


The Dark Fox and the Redeyed Wolf (Alternative Sciles version)

by Sees_writes



Series: The Dark Fox and the Redeyed Wolf [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Bisexual Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Bisexual Stiles Stilinski, Bloody Side of Scott McCall, Dark Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Dark Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski, Dark Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski, Dark Stiles Stilinski, Evil Alpha Scott McCall, Evil Sciles, Evil Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski, Evil Stiles Stilinkski and Scott McCall, Full Moon, Hellhounds, Minor Layden, Multi, Mutual Pining, Partial Shifting Werewolves, Possessed Stiles Stilinski, Sciles, Supernatural - Freeform, Void Stiles, Werewolves, dark sciles, sciles romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28911201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sees_writes/pseuds/Sees_writes
Summary: This is the Sciles version of my Dark Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski work! (highly requested)So what is our favorite adorable Alpha and human duo, weren't so nice?Scott is still seeing the affects of when Liam attacked him and Stiles is suffering from visions of the Nogitsune.An unexpected guest shows up in Beacon Hills unexpectedly and leave the McCall pack rattled, none more so than their Alpha.The boys also have to deal with their feelings... for each other. The problem, neither knows the other likes them.Oh boy, enjoy this decent into darkness and chaos for these boys.
Relationships: Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski
Series: The Dark Fox and the Redeyed Wolf [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120388
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> A SCILES VERSION WAS HIGHLY REQUESTED. THIS IS THE ALTERNATIVE VERSION. I CHANGED SOMETHINGS BUT IT IS MOSTLY THE SAME STORY LINE.

“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again?”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”  
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”

-

“Stilinski!”

Stiles jerks out of his daydream as coach slams his hands down on his desk.

“How many times do I have to say your name before you quit dreaming about girls in Hawaii and answer the damn question?”  
“Sorry coach, what was the question?” Stiles asks.  
“Stilinski quit reminding me that becoming a teacher was the worst decision of my life.” Coach mumbles as he turns away.  
“Anybody else? What caused the Great Depression? Greenburg put your hand down.”

Scott gently nudged Stiles’ chair in sympathy. His friend smelled of embarrassment and slightly of anxiety.

The bell rang and everybody clambered out of their seat. Coach was saying something about reading but Stiles ignored it as he grabbed his bag and walked out of the room. He and Scott stopped at their lockers and dumped their econ books.

“I can’t believe it.” Stiles complained.  
“What?” Scott asked, knowing where this conversation was leading.  
“Nothing has happened in a month!”  
“And that’s a bad thing?” Scott asked as he grabbed his english book.  
“Well it just feels weird. I mean we just let Theo off, he could be anywhere! Also Kira’s with the skinwalkers. And Peter is MAI after he escaped from Eichen House!”  
“Yeah, but I think we need a break.” Scott said as he closed his locker. 

A break was what they all needed. The weeks of chaos had finally come to a close. His pack had reformed and they had all made up. Especially he and Stiles. 

They had talked for a whole night about what had come between them. They had resolved it and had both felt a lot better. 

The only thing now that Scott had to worry about, was the fact that he was pretty sure that he was developing a crush on Stiles. 

Yeah. That had actually been a problem for a little while longer. He had started to notice it around Junior year. He’d dismissed it, but the feelings only grew. He did not know what this meant. He had also been dating Kira at the time to further confuse him. 

Of course he hadn’t had much time to think or even act on it. The universe loved to throw whatever it could at this town, and Scott just had to keep going. His thoughts about his friend or his possible crush, were pushed to the back of his mind as he tried to keep Stiles and the rest of his pack alive.

Now that they had hit a lull, those thoughts and questions emerged. 

He shook his head and looked down the hall and spotted Liam leaning against the wall next to Hayden. He couldn’t help but smile a little. His beta seemed to be better at controlling his abilities now that he was also helping Hayden. Stiles leaned back so he could see what his friend was looking at. 

“Awww puppy love.” He cooed.

He then almost fell over backward as someone slammed their locker next to him.

“I’m glad he found someone to cling to.” Scott leaned against his locker facing Stiles as he waited.  
“Yeah it reminds me of a certain someone.” Stiles smirked as he closed his locker.

 ~~He definitely wasn’t trying to distract himself from the way Scott was leaning against the wall and watching him.~~

“Oh yeah?” Scott raised his eyebrow at Stiles  
“Absolutely you made puppy eyes at Allison all the time. Actually you always acted like a puppy around her. Kira as well, but Kira also acted the same way.”  
“A puppy?” Scott asked, smiling.  
“Yep.” Stiles turned and squinted at him. “Actually you still are a puppy.”  
“Excuse me?!”

Stiles ruffled Scott’s hair and started towards the stairs.

“Yes you are a very large and oversized and adorable puppy.”

Scott’s chest fluttered just the slightest at being called adorable by Stiles.

“Large and oversized mean the same thing.” Lydia said as she strutted up to them. “And who are you calling a puppy?”  
“He’s calling me a puppy.” Scott said.  
“Well he’s not wrong.”

Scott let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Don’t fight it buddy.” Stiles said as he patted Scott on the back.

Lydia was saying something else when Stiles heard someone say his name. He turned around but saw no one looking at him.

“Stiles.”

He whipped his head around but saw that no one was near him.

“Stiiilessss”

When he blinked everything disappeared from his view and was replaced by a dark basement.

He turned slowly. He was in the basement at Eichen again. There was a scraping along the pipes that lined the walls and he whirled around to come face to face with a wall. Not just any wall. The wall with the symbol for self scratched into it.

“Stiles.”

Stiles clamped his hands over his ears.

“You're not real.” He whispered.  
“Ssssstilessss.” The voice hissed.  
“You're not real, you're not real. You can’t hurt anyone, never again.”  
“Oh Stiless, it wasn’t me. It was ussss.” The voice seemed to claw its way up his spine.  
“No. No. NO.”  
“STILES!”

Stiles blinked back into awareness. Scott had his hands on his shoulders and was shaking him gently. Well as gentle as an Alpha werewolf with superstrength can jar you.

“I-I’m fine, sorry. Just… zoned out.” Stiles stuttered.

Scott carefully released him and shared a worried look with Lydia.

“I’m fine I swear.”  
“Stiles you were talking. Saying something wasn’t real.” Lydia stepped closer to him and gently grabbed his elbow. 

He looked down at her hand and swallowed. He could feel her eyes boring into him. 

“Sorry, just, thought I was somewhere else.” He quickly took off for his next class, leaving Scott and Lydia standing in the hallway.

Scott stared after his friend, who now reeked of fear and anxiety. He desperately wanted to go and comfort his friend. Lydia looked up at him with a questioning look.

“Has he taken his Adderall?” Scott shrugged his shoulders.  
“I think we all need a break.” Scott said again as he let out a breath before dropping his head and walking to his next class.  
-  
The lacrosse field was in its usual state of chaos as the team ran drills. Scott had learned early on how to block out the smells of BO and emotions and even the hormones as they usually ran high on the field. Of course when he became a True Alpha he had to relearn many things because of his doubly heightened senses.

They just finished a 3 on 3 and were jogging back to get water. They were down a few players after Kira left and the Dread Doctors had done a number on the students at Beacon Hills. All the people that weren’t on firstline were now fighting for a spot. Which meant that everyone was being extra aggressive and salty. One sophomore in particular was glaring at Liam. They had butted heads a few times at practices. 

Scott knew that he had a history of red cards.

“Alright. Next we are going to run defense versus offense. 2 on 1. McCall and Dumbar I want you in defense.”

Liam winced slightly at the nickname before saying, “Yes coach.”

Scott patted him on the back as they jogged out with the long sticks.

This reminded Scott of when Liam was first trying out and he and Stiles had been stuck on defense. That also led to Scott injuring Liam and then him biting Liam. He hoped he wouldn’t have to worry about that now. 

Of course it wasn’t very fair for offense because Scott and Liam made the perfect team. As they racked up more points for defense they knocked helmets, something they didn’t do with any of the other players. Didn't want to give anybody an unwarranted concussion. 

The next offensive player was the sophomore, and he was pissed off. Scott could smell it from where he stood. 

He shifted his glare from Scott to Liam before charging out. He was sprinting, not towards the goal but towards Liam. Liam was expecting him to try to feint and was not expecting him to ram into him. He and Liam collided and he landed hard on Liam. Scott heard the telltale sound of someone's ankle fracturing. 

He sprinted over to where they were as the sophomore moaned in pain. Liam grunted as Scott helped him detangle. He was favoring one foot and panting. Coach jogged over and started to yell at the sophomore who was still sprawled on the ground. Scott leaned down and made sure Liam was okay. He nodded but his eyes were closed. Scott carefully shifted so he was blocking Liam from view as Stiles jogged over to help. He grabbed Liam’s hand and drained his pain away. 

Liam slowly opened his eyes and Scott started at the blazing yellow.

“Oh no-, hey, it's ok. We don’t need to get wound up about some sophomore with anger issues.” Stiles said. 

He then realized what he said as Liam turned his golden glare on him. 

“Hey Liam. What’s your mantra?” Scott quickly diverted Liam’s attention away from the human.  
“The sun, the moon, the truth.” Liam started muttering under his breath.  
“Dunbar, you alright?” Coach asked as he walked over.  
“Yeah, just a little sore ankle, nothing he can’t shake off.” Stiles distracted and Liam regained control.  
“Good. How about you sit out Liam for a little.” Coach told him.  
“What? No, I'm good. I promise.” Liam quickly announced  
“Are you sure?” Scott asked him.  
“Yeah, I promise.” He repeated.

The sophomore was helped off of the field. All the while glaring at Liam, probably wondering how he had managed to escape unscathed.

The next offensive player nervously scooped up a ball before running out. Scott heard Liam muttering his mantra as he charged out to meet the new opponent.

‘I promise.’ The phrase whispered through is brain.  
“You promised!” Scott shook his head as someone shouted it at him.  
“You promised you would do anything to save her!” Scott paled as he remembered the conversation.  
“Scott!” 

The shrill noise of shattering glass and roars filled his ears. He felt claws rake his stomach open and teeth try to rip into his arm. He gasped for breath and staggered back.

He tasted wolfsbane and blood and began to choke on it. 

“Scott?” Someone was saying his name.

He jerked his head up to meet his beta’s gaze. A gaze that had bore into him with hatred and fury just a month ago. He jerked back before realizing that the team was staring at them.

“What happened?” He asked Liam.  
“You let the offensive player by, then you had like, another asthma attack.”  
“Oh. Sorry.” The rest of practice passed by in a daze for Scott. 

In the locker rooms Stiles asked him what was wrong but he quickly answered that he was fine before heading off to work.

Deaton immediately knew something was wrong with his employee. Scott was distracted and didn’t realize that he was feeding the dogs cat food and vise versa. 

“Um Scott?” Deaton inquired.  
“Yeah?” Scott looked up before looking down and realizing his error.  
“Everything alright?”  
“Yeah.” he muttered as he got to fixing the food problem.

Deaton continued to watch Scott as he made his way around the office. He was tensing and untensing. And constantly looking around, as if on alert. 

“Scott, is something bothering you?”  
“What? Oh. Yeah, it’s just something Stiles said.”  
“Well considering what I’ve heard come out of that boy’s mouth I would think that you would be tense a lot more.”

Scott smiled a little at that. 

“He was complaining that nothing had happened all month, and that no one knows where Peter is.”  
“Well we both have people searching for Peter. But I don’t think he will want any trouble. You effectively put him in his place at La Iglesia.” Deaton reminded Scott.  
“Yeah, I hope so.” Scott mumbled before falling back into silence. 

He had thought a lot about what had happened in Mexico. He’d almost killed his friends as a Berserker. That scared him. It scared him how easily Kate was able to turn him against his own pack. The people he loved and cared about most in the world. 

After they had returned, Stiles seemed to pick up on his unease. (He always did) Scott had explained how much it scared him. It didn’t help that Stiles was still sporting a large bruise and a cut on his forehead from his attack. He also talked about how he’d almost lost to Peter.

Stiles had worked his magic though, after a long conversation, Scott had felt a little less guilty. Stiles just had that effect on people, or maybe it was just him. It was after that conversation that Scott started to notice the difference in his feelings towards the human.  
-  
Derek slid the door to his apartment open. Well not exactly an apartment but a run down penthouse. He picked up the bag of groceries that he had set down and kicked the door back into place. 

He started to shove the food into his fridge when he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He slowly set down the jar of salsa. He could now pick up the sound of a heartbeat off to his left. 

He whirled around and slammed the intruder against the wall with a snarl. His claws were wrapped around the person’s neck and they gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. 

It took Derek a moment to realize that he was staring into the eyes of his uncle. 

“Hello to you too.” Peter struggled out. 

Derek let his fangs sink back down into his gums but he didn’t remove his claws.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Derek demanded.  
“Well checking in with my favorite nephew of course, who might be as kind as to remove his claws from my neck.”

Derek lessened his grip a little and Peter sucked in a breath. Peter smelled of the woods and something acrid. 

“You’ve been missing from Eichen for a month.”  
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been hiding out in the woods, waiting for things to,” He waved his hand. “Simmer down. Those doctors of dread seemed to have put the town into quite a panic.”  
“Yeah I wonder why.” Derek snapped.  
“So I heard. I also heard that the Beast of Gevaudan was resurrected. And that Gerard is back to being the healthy and phycotic old man he always was.”  
“You seem to know a lot for someone that has been hiding in the woods.” Derek narrowed his eyes.  
“I read the newspaper. You know it is actually a good source of information. Maybe you should tr-” Peter was cut off as Derek tightened his claws.

“You know, I don’t actually care. What I do care about, is that you escaped from Eichen and last time I saw you, you tried to kill Scott, again.” Derek growled.  
“Well I’ll have you know that I have moved on from that phase, I just want to settle down and try to… reconnect with my daughter. And maybe find her mother. I have a few questions for the Desert Wolf myself.”  
“Well unfortunately for you, the Desert Wolf is dead. Killed by your daughter.”

Peter’s eyes widened a little at that, then a smile spread over his face. 

“Good for her.”  
“Look why are you really back? Do you want to eat some children? Maybe try to kill Scott again? You seem to like to relapse to that.”  
“I am done trying to kill that kid. I underestimated him and got my ass royally handed to me. A lesson I will remember.” Peter’s eyes narrowed. “And I don’t eat children.”

Derek dropped his hand away and retracted his claws. He glared at Peter who was rubbing his neck. His heart beat hadn’t given anything away. But he did have a point. Scott had kicked his ass. And something about the base instincts of werewolves, when you get beat by an alpha, you don’t usually try again. He’d also placed the acrid smell. Peter seemed to still have Yellow Wolfsbane in his system. 

Peter returned his gaze to Derek.

“Just thought that I’d tell you first, that I am officially checking out of Eichen so if you see me walking down the street, you don’t rip my head off.” Peter turned back towards the door. 

He paused as he passed the counter with food stuff still scattered across it. He picked up the salsa Derek had set down before attacking Peter. 

He inspected it. “Talia’s favorite.” Was all he said before leaving the penthouse.

Derek glared at the door for a few moments before grabbing his phone and calling Scott.

“Derek, whats up?”  
“Peter’s back.”  
-  
Stiles was in the middle of doing homework when his phone started ringing. He knew it was Scott because the ringtone was the Immigration Song. Stiles picked it up and was immediately assaulted by Scott trying to explain something very fast while he was riding his motorcycle. Stiles made out Eichen, woods, and Peter.

“Scotty, I can’t understand a word you're saying.” Stiles rubbed his eyes.

Scott stopped talking as the noise from his bike lowered. Stiles guessed he was at a red light. 

“Peter is back. Derek just called me and told me that Peter just showed up at his place and told him that he had been hiding out in the woods after he got out. He is officially checking out of Eichen.”

Stiles mouth dropped open. 

Peter? Out free? Who was insane enough to let that happen?

“Stiles?”  
“Is there anything we can do to stop them from releasing him? I mean he was locked in the CLOSED UNIT FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!” Stiles cried.  
“I don’t know, that’s why I CALLED YOU!” Scott replied.  
“Hang on.” Stiles told. 

He rapid typed into google if you can stop an adult from signing themself out of a mental hospital.

The sound of Scotts bike filtered back through the phone. If his mom found out that he was on his phone while riding would probably end up with her confining him to his room with a mountain ash barrier. Stiles wouldn’t be completely opposed to it. Even though he knew that Scott would heal from any wound, it still activated his protective instincts. ~~He did look really hot with his bike though.~~

As soon as the bike's noise lessened Scott asked Stiles if he had found anything.

“He can check himself out but he has to go back for like, therapies and stuff like that.” Stiles sighed.

He was glad he hadn’t needed to go back to Eichen after the 2 days he had spent there. He didn’t tell anybody but he was still haunted by the sight of someone hanging from the stairwell.  
Scott grumbled something intelligible. 

“Thanks for looking.” Scott finally said. “Derek said that he doesn’t think Peter will try anything.”  
“Like trying to kill someone?” Stiles threw his free hand up in the air as he stood up and paced.  
“Yeah. Derek said that Peter said that he just wants to ‘reconnect with his daughter’.”  
“Yeah that’s not happening.” Stiles shook his head.

There was a pause in the conversation as the bike revved up. Finally the bike shut off as Scott got home.

“Ok well we will just have to keep an eye on him.”  
“I think we said that last time. And then he came from behind and tried to kill you.”  
“Yeah well I won’t let that happen again. We have lots of people that can watch him. And if he tries anything, we can get help from Argent.”  
“True. Have you heard anything lately from Argent?”  
“No. All I know is that he left with Gerard and didn’t say where he was going.”  
“Maybe he can do us all a favor and leave him in the North Pole. With no gun or mountain ash or anything. And maybe sic a polar bear on him.”  
“I trust Argent. He always comes when we need him.”

Stiles huffed out a breath before plopping back into his chair.

“Hey I have to go. I’m going to text the others about this to let them know.”  
“That's probably a good idea. Alright later.”  
“Bye dude.”

Stiles dropped his phone. An unsettling feeling came to rest in his stomach. Somehow, he knew, things were about to change.


	2. Broken Barriers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Full moon, nightmares, almost disaster, the usual

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--

The next two weeks were filled with tension, but nothing happened. Peter settled down and no one was reported missing or dead. Things seemed to settle back down for most people. 

But Scott was once again suffering from nightmares. 

The kinds that he had gotten when he had first been bitten. Peter was usually the one lurking in the background of those. He would wake up in a cold sweat and only remember flashes from the dream. One night his mom had to come in and wake him up from a particularly bad one. He had lunged up with his eyes glowing red and his fangs out, according to her, he had scared the crap out of her. She had stumbled back away from her son and had nearly ended up on her butt if she hadn’t caught herself on Scott’s chair. 

Scott quickly realized where he was and who was with him and had quickly retracted his fangs and blinked his eyes back to brown. He slid out of his bed and reached out to help his mom. She had slowly taken his hand and they both went down to the kitchen and each got a cold glass of water. He couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze, mostly because he was afraid of what he would find there. He had seen the flash of terror when he had woken up and she had stumbled back. 

It reminded him of when she had first found out that he was a werewolf. He remembered listening to her sneak around the house to avoid him. And the fear that had reeked off of her for weeks after. He’d asked Stiles what he should do, Stiles said that he should just explain everything from start to finish.

So that's what he did and soon after things had gone back to normal. 

His dreams when he had first been bitten consisted of wolfing out and injuring his friends or family, then they had been of Peter digging himself out of his grave and killing his friends, or just forcing him to do it. Then they were of him becoming Peter. When he had become an Alpha it was bad because he had little to no control. Now, they were haunted by many things. Peter, the nogitsune, the Mute, and the newest addition, Liam. His own beta. 

He wondered if it was retribution for the dream he had had while he was laying half dead in the hospital waiting for the Benefactor. That had taken a while to get out of his head but he still remembers it like he had actually done it. He would not forget the look of terror in Liam’s eyes as he had buried the hatchet in his chest over and over again, going into a complete bloodlust filled rage. 

But that led him into other thoughts. What was it like for an Alpha to kill his beta? Deucalion had said that it was one of the best feelings he had ever experienced when he had felt the power drain out of his arrogant beta and into him. And the feeling only got better as he slaughtered the rest of his pack. 

Scott had felt it. 

In the dream as he hacked into his beta, he could have sworn that he felt the younger wolf’s power drain into him. Scott shook his head and layed back down on his bed, trying to shake the restless feeling within him.  
-  
Stiles was becoming afraid to fall asleep. He was plagued by the Nogitsune’s face every time he tried to fall asleep. Its voice caused him to be in a constant state of chills. He would see his hands covered in blood and then he would look in the mirror and only see the wrapped face of the fox. 

After they had defeated the Nogitsune, Stiles had struggled with sleep, but Malia soon made it a habit of sneaking into his room and spooning him. That had been his saving grace. With Malia there, he felt safe and the Nogitsune faded into the dark reaches of his mind. But then the dread doctor had come. He and Malia broke up. And his world started to fall apart once again. Instead of the fox, his mom haunted him. His dad nearly died and Scott lost faith in him… and he had killed Donaven. 

No matter what anybody told him, he still counted it as murder. He was the one to pull the pin and he was the one that had felt relieved when he saw the other boy skewered through.

Donaven liked to come visit him in his dreams. Another reason for Stiles to avoid sleeping. He did his best to stay quiet so he wouldn’t wake up his dad, who was usually working overtime to try to catch up on what he had missed while he was out. 

Now he just tried to focus on worrying about Peter. That and school. He had a lot on his mind. The month-long break from the supernatural had allowed them to reach some semblance of normal. They had all focused on bettering their relationships with each other. 

Lydia was done with being in a relationship for a while, and Stiles respected it. Scott seemed to be doing good as well. He missed Kira but Stiles had done his best to keep him company.  
Stiles would always be there for his friend. He knew that he would probably never be anything more to the McCall boy.

He had been in 7th grade when he realized that he wasn’t as straight as he thought he was. Another boy had flirted with him, and he’d played along with it. Next thing he knew, he had been behind the gym making out with the boy.

He had participated in a few more sessions such as that one. But had not had feelings for the boy. He still thought that Lydia was beautiful. But now he had noticed his best friend since childhood, Scott McCall. He was painfully aware that Scott was straight. It had hurt, having to come to terms with the fact that he had a crush on his best friend. To cover for that, he had directed his attention to Lydia Martin. 

He had been convinced that when Scott had been bitten, that his cover would be blown. However the McCall boy had remained blissfully unaware. He thanked Allison eternally for diverting Scott’s attention. Of course every time his heart beat sped up, it could have just been fear, and not because Scott had just growled a very low and dangerous growl. Or that he had to be the hottest werewolf he had ever seen. He wouldn’t lie, werewolf, wild, dangerous, looked very nice on the tan teenager. 

He groaned.

No matter how much Adderall he took, he just couldn’t seem to focus on the history homework that was sitting on the desk in front him. Stiles was trying to manage too much crap in his life at once. He finally gave up and called Lydia. He debated on calling Scott, but decided against it. His friend had a more normal sleeping schedule than he did. That and he usually called Lydia when it involved school. He was pretty sure she was the only reason he had good grades.

“Yes?” She asked as she picked up.  
“Hey, I need help on something.”  
“What is it?”  
“History homework.” He said quietly.  
The banshee answered after a pause. “Thank god.”  
“What?”  
“I thought you were going to try to use me to find a dead body in the woods with you and Scott.”  
Stiles shook his head with a laugh. “Nope just boring history homework.”  
“Who do you have and where are you in history?” 

Stiles relaxed as he and Lydia worked through his homework. He was happy that she seemed to be back to her normal self. He doesn’t think that he will ever get out of his head, the sight of Lydia lying in the Eichen House bed with blood slowly oozing out of the hole in her head. The words, ‘Stiles saved me mom.’ has been one of the few things that has kept him going through the long nights. ~~That and time spent with Scott.~~ His long time crush on her had made the time even more special. 

They had also helped cement his decision to pursue a job that would allow him to stop bad guys, in a more legal manner than what they were currently doing as high schoolers. 

The next day at school he asked Malia if she had gone and seen her dad.

“Yeah. I went pretty soon after he moved back in.” She said with her eyes wide.  
“What did he say?” Stiles inquired.  
“Nothing of value. Just that he wanted to start ‘making amends’.” She slammed her locker closed and started off towards math.

“You know for some reason I don’t really believe him.” Stiles said as he caught up to her.  
“I know, neither do I.” She had a troubled look on her face.  
“What is it?”  
“It's just-” the coyote huffed out a breath. “There was this scent there. Derek said that it was probably just Yellow Wolfsbane, but it smelled more like a person.”  
“Who?” Stiles stopped her in the hall.  
“I don’t know? They smelled familiar though. But it was an older scent and didn’t stay long enough to get a good read.”  
“Ok well this is good.” Stiles was hitting one of his hands into his other hand.  
“What is?”  
“It means that he is conspiring and we have a reason to not trust him!” Stiles was waving his hands around as he talked.  
“Ok Stiles,” Malia grabbed his arms and held them to his side. “I don’t know who it was.” She said, shaking her head. “I don’t know if it was a good person or a bad person, so we can’t assume anything yet.”

Now it was Stiles’ turn to huff out a breath.

“Ok your right.” He relented as Malia dropped her hands away.  
“Good. Now let's get to math before our teacher skins me.” Malia took off towards the class with Stiles in tow.  
-  
Hayden walked down the hall, her fingers entwined with Liam’s. To think that they had been rivals in Middle School and now they were dating. They definitely still butted heads a little. 

Yeah no they butted heads a lot. But they had been getting better. Liam was teaching her about being a werewolf with help from Scott. Most things she could learn from Liam but some things she had to learn from the Alpha. 

The thing was, she didn’t really talk to Scott. Yeah, he was her Alpha and had saved her life. But she was still unsure of him. He had refused to give her the bite after the Dread Doctors had done their work. She understood why, but it still rubbed her the wrong way. He also gave off this aura of power that intimidated her. So she did her best to avoid him.

While Liam used the mantra, ‘the sun, the moon, the truth’ to stay anchored she needed to anchor on someone. She had tried to anchor on Liam but that didn’t go well and on the full moon. She had been a little shocked when it was Scott that had found her deep in the woods covered in her own blood. He had had to force her to shift back then had carried her back to his motorcycle. 

He had been quiet the whole drive home, he could smell the emotions coming off of his beta. It had not gone unnoticed by him that she avoided him, he had been a little hurt by it but he understood. So he had given her space. But, on the full moon, he had sensed the unrest in her and had kept a careful eye on her. He had made sure she got home safe earlier in the evening before heading over to check on Liam. He had then heard a savage howl that had almost caused him to crash his bike. He had immediately spun around and headed back to her house. He followed her scent to the reserve then had to ditch his bike. He had hiked for a while before he caught her scent again. He glared up at the moon as he continued into the woods. 

He couldn’t help but be reminded of when Cora and Boyd had been on the loose. He hoped he wouldn’t have to pin Hayden down in the basement and get savagely beaten like Derek had been. After a while he finally came upon his beta caught in a snag of fallen logs and branches. As she struggled the branches just shredded her skin more. She was extremely feral and wouldn’t let him near her without slashing claws at him.

He had glared at the moon once again before allowing himself to shift enough to force her back to human. She had fallen limp and unconscious and he was able to disentangle her. She slowly blinked back into consciousness as he attempted to clean some of the blood off of her face. She had broken something in her arm and was leaking blood out of countless cuts. He carefully lifted her up into his arms and started the hike back to his bike.

Once they were back at her house, he had suggested that she anchor on her sister. Scott explained that it worked better to anchor on someone who you aren’t romantically involved with. He sat down with her in her bedroom and told her about what had happened when he had been anchored on Allison then became an Alpha. 

“Sometimes, the people we love in a romantic way, they can drift away or even make you feel less human. With Allison, I loved her, but we stopped dating and, doubled with the whole doorway in the mind, I couldn’t anchor on her.” He explained as he took the last bit of her pain away.  
“Who do you anchor on now?” She had asked him.  
“Myself.” He smiled as he sat back on the floor. 

Well he had anchored on himself. For a long time. But he was beginning to think that his anchor had once again fallen to a person. A person that had adorable brown eyes. And adorable moles and unruly hair.

She wrinkled her nose. “How do you do that?”  
“It takes practice, and self control, a lot of it. But I think you should be able to do it someday.”  
“What about Liam.” She had asked.

Scott blew air out of his nose.

“I don’t know if he will. He still struggles. He just has a different mentality than many werewolves I’ve met.”  
“Well he is an IED.” Hayden muttered. “Learned that the hard way.”

Scott chuckled. 

They sat in silence for a few moments. Her sister was currently at work so they didn’t need to worry about her walking in on them.

“Do you feel it?” She suddenly asked.  
“Yeah. Every werewolf feels it.”  
“Does it get better?” 

He looks up at her and contemplates his answer.

“Yes and no. You learn to control and not let it affect you as much. But it still hurts.”

She nods.  
“What was your first full moon like?”

Scott winced at the memory.

“Well it was pretty soon after I was bitten. I didn’t believe Stiles when he said I shouldn’t go to Lydia’s party with Allison. I didn’t listen. I had to leave early because I thought I was going to be sick. Stiles followed me home and I don’t remember much after, until I got shot.”

Hayden jerked her head up. 

“You got shot?”  
“Yeah, by a crossbow bolt from Argent. If it weren’t for Derek I would have been stuck pinned to that tree.”  
“Isn’t Argent you friend?”  
“Yes he is now.” He laughed a little. “I never saw that coming. Back then he was just the hunter and my girlfriend’s dad.”

Hayden snorted at that. Her sister had taken on the role of protective older sibling since she had started dating Liam.

“Well for the most part that doesn’t sound too bad.”  
“Yeah I got lucky. It was the second one that was the worst.”  
“What happened.”  
“Well I’m sure you felt the moon all day today.”  
“Yeah.” She slid onto the floor next to the Alpha.  
“Well it was really messing with me. It didn’t help at all that Allison kind of broke up with me the night before. I did some things I shouldn’t have, and hurt some people because of them.” 

He still felt terrible about kissing Lydia in coach’s office. He hated it even more that he knew what he was doing and knew how much it would hurt Stiles, but he didn’t care. ~~Now he wished that it was Stiles he had kissed.~~

“If it weren’t for Stiles I don’t know what would have happened.” Hayden gave him a questioning look.  
“He tricked me and handcuffed me to my heater.” Scott explained. “But once I fully shifted I was able to finally get out of them. Derek was able to stop me from killing Jackson then.”  
“I don’t see handcuffs being very effective.” Hayden said as she looked down at her hands.  
“Well I was only a beta back then. And I didn’t really have a pack so I was a lot weaker.”

“Hmm.” it was hard for Hayden to imagine Scott with yellow eyes as a beta. 

He always seemed like a force that you didn’t want to mess with. 

His phone buzzed and he read the message on the screen.

“Everything ok?”  
“Yeah Stiles and Liam just wanted to know if I knew where you were.”  
“Glad he finally asked.” She rolled her eyes.  
“Well I can head out if you are ok.” Scott said as he stood up.  
“Yeah I think I’m good now. I probably should take a shower though.” her sister would kill her if she came home to see Hayden covered in blood.  
“Ok.” Scott held out his hand for her, she let him haul her to her feet.  
“If you need anything, just call me. I probably will be awake all night anyways.” He gave her a small smile.  
“Thank you.” She looked up at the Alpha in gratitude, her alpha.

He nodded and headed out of her room. She heard the front door open and close then heard his bike rev up and speed off. She sighed and started up the shower. This was the first real conversation that she had had since he had bitten her. She now understood why Liam trusted Scott so much and told her that she was lucky to have him as an Alpha, and why so many people trusted him and would follow him. She scrubbed the mostly dried blood off of her and shut out the pull of the moon.  
-  
Scott found himself in front of Stiles’ house. He had unconsciously ridden over here instead of back to his house. 

His mom was at work, as usual. His house would be empty and quiet. Which was probably ideal for a werewolf on a full moon. But here he was. He debated on driving back to his house without disrupting Stiles.

His phone buzzed.

 _Did I just hear your bike pull up outside?_  
Scott sighed.  
_Yeah  
…  
R u going to come in or?_  
Scott climbed off of his bike and started up to the front door.

Stiles opened the door and looked him up and down. Scott was very happy at that moment that Stiles could not hear his heartbeat. Because it just sped up considerably. 

This was a bad idea. He should have gone home. He should not have come here. He was not in the right mindset to deal with his crush. The house smelled like Stiles. He was going to be obvious and ruin his friendship. There was no way that his crush, his best friend, liked him back. Right?

“Um, are you ok?”

Scott was dragged out of his thoughts by Stiles’ voice.

“Yeah. I-I’m fine.”  
“And everything was good with Hayden?”

Yes, focus on a regular conversation. It is just a regular conversation with his best friend. He did it everyday. 

“Yeah. I suggested that she anchor on her sister for now.”  
“You think that she’s gonna be able to anchor on herself? Or could she anchor on an emotion, Derek does that, or he did.”

Stiles was backing up out of the doorway so that Scott could walk inside.

“I think she will be able to. With time and practice. Both of which we have.”  
“True.” Stiles nodded and grabbed a can of Mountain Dew out of the fridge.  
“You know, you don’t have to stay up.” Scott told him.  
“I know, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyways. Or it wouldn’t be worth it to try.” Stiles pointed out.

Scott nodded.

He didn’t know what to talk about next. He was trying to concentrate on way too many things at once. 

Stiles watched his friend with concern. He did not seem to be very focused. But he didn’t usually look focused on full moons. He had to admit, he secretly loved the wild and barely contained crazed look that Scott wore on full moons.

“Hey,” Scott’s gaze turned back to him. “You sure you're ok.”  
“Yeah, just a little uptight about the full moon and Hayden.”  
“Yeah and don’t forget about the notes that are due tomorrow in Spanish.”

Scott groaned.

Stiles’ class was a day ahead of his so he would always alert Scott to any assignments. 

“I totally forgot.” He sighed.

“Well how about we take your mind off of it and watch a movie?”

Scott hesitated before he nodded and followed Stiles to the living room. 

Stiles selected Top Gun and clicked play. 

The werewolf seemed to relax quite a bit as the movie progressed.

Scott couldn’t help but keep stealing glances at Stiles. His face was lit up by the flashing on the screen. God he wanted to crawl over and tangle his hands in his hair and-

Scott physically shook his head. That was just the full moon talking. 

Then THAT scene came on. Stiles stood up to get some food. Scott sat transfixed. Stiles stopped in the doorway, watching Scott. He was watching the movie with a kind of intensity that made Stiles feel butterflies in his chest.

He prayed that Scott’s abilities were to impared to notice his heartbeat and whatever kimo signals we was giving off.

Scott turned his attention away from the television just in time to catch the hungry look on Stiles’ face.

No that wasn’t right. 

There was no way Stiles would look at him like that.

Stiles quickly walked back over and sat back down on the couch. 

God I hope Scott didn’t see anything. That would be bad, bad, bad, very, very bad. He had a system and he was not going to let himself slip up now. 

The rest of the movie, there was a strange tension between them. Neither could really place it, both thought it was because of themselves.

After the movie ended, Scott prepared to head out. 

It was 3 in the morning, his mom would be getting back home soon. Stiles walked him to the door.

“Here wait!” He told Scott before dashing back to grab something. 

Stiles returned with a copy of the Spanish notes.

He handed them to Scott. Their hands brushed. They both seemed to freeze. Slowly Stiles pulled his hand away.

“I’ll, um, see you tomorrow.”

Scott nodded before quickly retreating to his bike.

Too close, too close, too close. 

He didn’t know if it was the full moon or what, but that moment with Stiles hadn’t seemed so one sided.

He clutched his head and growled. 

Jesus Christ. 

_You dumbass, you almost exposed yourself and this whole operation._

His brain was referring to Operation Don’t Let Stiles Find Out.

He prayed that it had all been in his head. Everything about the night after he showed up at Stiles’ door.

Note to self, restrict all physical contact with Stiles Stilinski.  
-  
That had been right before Peter had returned. The barrier between Scott and Hayden had been broken, and now she was happy to talk with Scott or even Stiles about anything werewolf related. They didn’t trust Peter and neither did Liam, so neither did she. They all seemed on edge though, Scott and Stiles seemed the most though, and she didn’t fully understand. She asked Liam about it.

“Peter is the one that bit Scott. And the one that killed all those people when we were in middle school. He also bit Lydia and forced her powers out before tricking her into bringing him back to life. Then he layed low and kind of regained their trust before trying to kill Scott for his power.” 

They were walking in front of the school on the lawn.

“Oh ok.”  
“He was locked in Eichen but when we were breaking Lydia out somehow he got out to.”  
“How many people have tried to kill Scott for his power?”  
“I think like 3 or 4…” Liam trailed off as he thought before slowly dropping his head.  
“And I was one of them.”  
“Because of the super moon and Theo.” Hayden tried to explain.  
“Maybe.” He sighed and looked at her.  
“Hey,” She cupped his cheek. “You didn’t kill him, and he forgave you. You saved his life too so I think you redeemed yourself.”

He gave her a small smile. She rolled her eyes and kissed him. He made a noise of surprise before happily returning the kiss.

A breeze blew over them. A breeze that made Hayden’s eyes snap open and pull back with a gasp. Liam blinked at her in confusion.

“What is it?”  
“It’s nothing.” She said as she looked around.

Liam stared at her in concern.

“Are you ok Hayden?” He asked.  
“Yeah just,” She tilted her head up to look at the clock on the front wall of the school. “The bells about to ring.” 

Liam turned around and looked at the clock. As he did Hayden scrambled to pick up their things and practically shoved them into Liam’s arms. When the bell rang she all but sprinted back inside, leaving Liam dumbfounded and staring after her. She smelled of distress and fear. Another breeze rolled over him as he started back inside.

Hayden shakely sat down at her desk and took many deep breaths. She pressed her hands together to stop them from shaking. One sentence kept circling around in her head.  
It couldn’t be.

He was gone. Disappeared and no one knew where he was. They would have found him if he were back. 

But she was just making excuses because she would know that scent anywhere.  
It was the scent of the person that had brought her back to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody's crush ever likes them back... right?  
> I am so pressed because we never see like ANY INTERACTION BETWEEN HAYDEN AND SCOTT IN THE SHOW. Like hello, he kinda BIT HER TOO???  
> Pardon my rant.  
> Thank you for reading and feel free to leave kudos, comments, or feed back!


	3. Labyrinth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear its a sketchy Chimera here to wreck havoc

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--

Malia immediately knew something was wrong with Hayden as soon as they passed each other in the hall. She was unfortunately going to fast for Malia to stop her and interrogate. She looked at the direction the younger beta had come from and noticed Liam standing with a perplexed look on his face.

Well that didn’t help.

Malia shook her head and continued on to her next class and pushed the thought from her head. She did not have time to worry about the she wolf right now, what she needed to worry about was the history test that she was walking into.

She pushed Hayden from her mind and entered the classroom. 

An hour later she stalked out of her class, positive she failed. 

She walked out onto the grass to help clear away the smell of anxiety that had stunk up the classroom all period.

That’s when she smelled it. The odor of a very interesting character.

Malia whipped her head around towards the buses. She saw a flicker of movement as someone disappeared behind one of them.

A voice that sounded like Stiles’ told her to go inside and get someone to go with her, that curiosity is what killed the cat. 

Well she was a coyote not a cat for that matter. 

She charged over to the buses and peered behind the one that had caught her eye. There was no one there but the place reeked of the Chimera. She snarled and looked around the next one. Then the next, following the trail. She jumped around the final one with her claws out and teeth bared. 

Nothing. No movement, no smell, absolutely nothing. She glared around, doing a double sweep before making her way back to the school. 

She immediately went looking for Scott. She knew that he had Math last period. Most people by now were in their classes and there were just a few stragglers now. She picked up her pace. She was almost there when Mrs. Martin grabbed her arm.

“Where are you going?” She asked incredulously.  
“I need to find Scott.”  
“Well Scott is in Math right now, and you need to be in English right now.” She started to steer the teen back towards her class.  
“But-”  
“No buts! Your group has missed enough school that you guys practically took another Winter Break! And I can only do so much for you before you guys start to have to deal with the consequences.” 

Malia growled but let Mrs. Martin drag her to her English class. 

It was easy to see where Lydia got her persistence from.

All through English her leg was bouncing a mile a minute. Her claws threatened to spring out and claw the teacher was lecturing about Hamlet right now. 

Is this how Stiles feels? She thought.

Despite the fact that they had broken up, Malia still used Stiles as her anchor. He was like her moral compass. She still cared about him deeply. But she had felt the shift in him. She had thought it was about Lydia. But once she had stepped back, she realized that it might not be the banshee but in fact another member of the pack.

His love life was none of her business though. Even if she wanted to know.

Finally the bell rang and she was out of her seat faster than any of the other humans. She was pretty sure that she ran over 3 freshmen as she dashed down the hall. Scott and Stiles were at their lockers. She zeroed in on them.

Scott looked up and stared at her. She slid to a stop in front of Stiles, causing him to jump a mile in the air and throw his book. She couldn’t help but feel the strange tension between the two boys. Oh well she had bigger problems.

“Theo’s back.” 

There was a pause of silence. Scott and Stiles looked at each other before looking back at her with mirror faces of confusion.

“What?”  
“Theo skipped town after we defeated the beast.” Stiles said.

She grunted before grabbing Scott and dragging him down the hall. He managed to kick his locker closed as he was hauled off. Stiles jogged to keep up with them. Liam suddenly appeared in front of her.

“Scott I think there is something wrong with Hayden-”  
“Yeah worry about it later.” Malia answered as she placed her hand on his face and pushed him out of the way, she didn’t even break stride.

Liam gave Stiles a very alarmed face.

“I don’t know, she just ran up and grabbed Scott and continued on her way.” Stiles answered as he passed him. “Also she said Theo’s back.” 

Liam jerked his head up and stopped walking. 

“What?” He cried as he took off after them.

Malia finally released her hold on Scott when they reached the buses. 

“Smell.” She ordered.

Scott gave her a perplexed look before taking in a breath. Liam followed suit and Stiles watched to gauge their reactions.

Scott sighed and Liam growled low in his throat.

“It’s him all right.”  
“And he was the one I smelled at Peter’s.” Malia said to Stiles.  
“Wait, you went to Peter’s?” Scott asked.  
“Yeah, like a while ago.”

Scott turned and gave Stiles a questioning look.

“Hey I thought you knew.” Stiles said as he held his hands up.  
“Ok this is not good.” Scott said as he shook his head.  
“Wait, this is probably what’s wrong with Hayden!” Liam exclaimed.

Scott looked at Malia. “We need to find her and make sure she’s ok.”  
“I can do that. And I am going to tell Mason and Corey.” Liam volunteered before turning to head back into the school.  
“Wait Liam.” Scott said as he grabbed his beta’s shoulder.  
“What?”  
“I think I know why Theo’s back.” Scott replied.  
“What’s he back for?” Liam swallowed, fearing he already knew the answer.  
“He’s back for Hayden.” Stiles answered.  
“But, Scott bit her. She’s not his beta anymore.” Malia interjected.  
“Yeah but, he might not feel the same way. I mean, he did, literally, bring her back to life.” Stiles pointed out.  
“He probably feels like he has some sort of claim on her.”  
“But why now? He could have come anytime before.” Liam asked as he looked up at Scott.  
“I don’t know. But whatever the reason, it can’t be good.” Scott released his grip and nodded to Liam.

Liam took off back towards the school.

“What now?” Malia asked as she leaned against the bus.  
“We should try to find him. Try to stop whatever he is planning on doing as soon as possible.” Scott answered.

“But what would he want from Peter? I mean, it seems a little suspicious to me that they both return around the same time.” Stiles observed.

Scott squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Right now how about we focus on finding him.” Malia suggested.  
“Ok, I’ll tell Lydia and my dad. Maybe he can help us, see if there have been any sightings.” Stiles said.  
“That sounds like a start.” Scott mumbled as he looked back up at them.

Stiles nodded and started back up towards the school. 

Malia watched Scott.

“Stiles is right.” She stated. “This doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me.”  
“I know.” He sighed as he stared at the school.  
“Are you going to call Argent?”

Scott shook his head. “Not yet. I’ll give us a chance to look before I call him. Maybe it’s nothing.”

Malia gave him a small smile.

“Has it ever been nothing in this town?”

He shook his head and they started back up to the school  
-  
Derek took a deep breath in.

The smells that hit him were the usual high school smells. He had a deep dislike for them. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on one smell. He took another breath in. Wait, there it was, just a little more-

“Find anything?” 

Derek slowly let out the breath before turning his glare to the human.

“Well it might be easier to find it if you weren’t staring at me and asking me questions every 5 seconds!” He growled at Stiles

Scott used to go on the defense when he saw Derek snap at Stiles, fearing that he was going to gouge the kid’s brains out right there. Now he knew that the older wolf wouldn’t hurt any of his friends. Even so, his hackles rose a little at Derek.

Stiles screwed his face up and restrained form asking again.

“I definitely am getting his scent, he’s hidden it though.” Derek said looking at Scott. “He’s very good at disguising it.”  
“Then how can you pick up his scent?” Malia asked.

Derek looked at his cousin.

“He’s hidden the coyote part of him, but he still hasn’t figured out the Kanima or the other hybrid chimera.” He explains to her.  
“Yeah what exactly was he?” Stiles asks.  
“I don’t know, it's probably in the Bestiary.” Derek mumbled before focusing back on Theo’s scent.

He started to follow the trail as it led him into the woods. The sun was getting ready to set and was casting its last golden rays over Beacon Hills. The teens followed him.

They wound through the trees, looking for any indication of the Chimera’s presence. Scott listened for anything. He hears birds flapping in the trees, a mole burrowing underground, and all the heart beats around him. The presence of the human off to his right.

When he first got bit, that was one of the many things to overwhelm him. All these details, scents, sounds, everything, hit him 10 fold. He’d been driven to a near panic attack one day at school. And that wasn’t on a full moon. Derek had to teach him how to shut out all the chatter and focus on what he wanted specifically. That was one of the first things he taught Liam and Hayden.

They came upon a stream and Derek stopped.

“Trail ends here.” 

Blue eyes flashed in the dark as Malia looked for any clues. She growled.

“Nothing.”  
“Ok well now we have wasted half an hour hiking through the woods.” Stiles grumbled.

A strange feeling crept up over Scott. He had the feeling of being in danger but he looked around. None of the others shared his concern. 

He jumped when his phone started to ring. It was Lydia.

“Hey Lydia.” He answered.  
“Scott where are you?” Lydia cried through the phone.  
“We’re looking for Theo, did something happen?”  
“Scott, something bad is going to happen. Something really bad.” He could hear her panicking.  
“What, what is going to happen?” Derek and Malia had their heads tilted to listen to the call and Stiles waited not so patiently for him to explain.  
“I don’t know. But I keep hearing this noise, like claws scraping on concrete. An-and there is a person crying and-”  
“Lydia, breath.” He told her.

Scott listened as she took in a deep breath.

“Scott I keep hearing this person laughing too. And they keep saying something.”  
“What are they saying?” He asked, a sick feeling entering his stomach.  
“Hayden.”

The sick feeling came to a climax in his gut.

“Hayden?” Malia asked and scrunched up her nose.

Scott froze as he felt a new feeling. This something that he had never experienced. It was a primal terror, but it wasn’t his own. 

Stiles plucked the phone from Scott’s hand and started questioning her. Scott couldn’t move though. He was aware of Derek talking to him but he couldn’t make out the words. His vision blurred and was replaced by dark shapes. He was aware of the cold floor under him and the slight dampness in the air. A roar pierced through the vision and he saw glaring yellow eyes.

He gasped and felt his knees give out. He dropped to the ground and heaved in oxygen.

Derek dropped down as well, trying to figure out what had come over the kid.

“Scott, what happened.” He asked, keeping Scott up by his shoulder.

Stiles stepped closer to see if he could help but Malia held up a wary hand.

Scott heaved in another breath. “I don’t know what that was, it was like I was somewhere else. Seeing out of someone else's eyes. It was dark, and, and there was a werewolf there with yellow eyes.”

Memory clicked in Derek’s brain.

“Ok what you just experienced is something that can happen to an Alpha. They can see what their beta sees if fear, or anger are running high enough. It is a way to alert their Alpha if they are in danger.”

“How did Hayden know how to do that?” Malia questioned.  
“I don’t think she does, I think this was an accident.”

Scott finally regained his breath. 

The dark place was a place he recognized, the sewage pipes that ran under the city. He knew that he needed to get there now.

Stiles returned his attention to Lydia.

“Lydia, did you see anything else?” Stiles asked.  
“I saw yellow eyes, and…” she paused.  
“And what Lydia?” Stiles pressed.  
“It looked like lightning or electricity.” She replied.

With that Scott shot up to standing. Without even thinking about the others, he sprinted back towards the school. There was one thing in his mind and it was his pack that was in danger.

The rest of the group stared after him before scrambling to follow him. Stiles did a lot of swearing as they took off after him. The two Hale’s left Stiles in the dust. Derek was trying to catch Scott before he did anything stupid. But the Alpha’s back was quickly receding from his view. He cursed his decision to give up his position as Alpha for the hundredth time. But in reality, he would do it again to save his family, even if it meant getting left in the dust by the kid that he had practically adopted into the supernatural world.

Malia slid to a stop and looked back for Stiles. She jogged back and grabbed his hand, hauling him along. 

By the time Derek charged into the parking lot, Scott’s bike engine was growing distant. He didn’t know where Scott was going and he wouldn’t be able to keep up with his bike. He was forced to wait for Malia and Stiles. Malia came crashing out of the woods, practically carrying Stiles.

“Where did he go?” She asked as she let go of Stiles.  
“I don’t know.” He looked at the human who had practically collapsed as he gasped for air. “Did Lydia say anything.”  
“She said… that.. She saw… pipes… and that… it was damp… and cold.” He heaved in another breath. “Also… it smelled… like rotting.”

Malia looked at Derek.

“The sewer pipe lines. We were down there looking for Hayden and Liam a while ago.”  
“Do you know the way there?”  
“Yeah.” She brought Stiles over to his jeep.  
“You know where we are going right?”  
“Yes.” He replied. “How are you guys going to get there?”  
“We’re gonna take a short cut.”

He looked like he was about to start talking again but Malia had already turned away and was heading back towards the woods.

“Follow me.”  
-  
After her final classes, Hayden had managed to calm down to a degree. She focused on her work and almost managed to forget. But as soon as she left the classroom, she felt the panic begin to settle in.

After she had been brought back to life, it felt like her head had been screwed back on lopsided. So many things had been confusing. All she knew was that she felt this drawing sensation to Theo. He had told her what had happened and that he was there to help her. She had tried to go back to her regular life but he seemed to shadow her every mood. 

Some things were still a blur for her. She didn’t remember many things from that time period. She knew that she had sought out Liam and he had been the one to hold her afloat.  
At first she had been fine with following Theo, but soon she seemed to wake up and she started to question what had been fed to her. 

Theo did not like that in the slightest bit. The others seemed to not have any urge to rebel or question their ‘Alpha’. 

She stumbled to the bathroom. Some of the other girls gave her strange looks as she staggered into the stall. She slid down and sat on the toilet seat. Her head was in her hands and she was shivering. 

“You should be thankful for what I did.” She heard him snarl in her ear. “I gave you a second chance. And you go and help Scott.”

The bathroom was replaced by the room in the pipelines that they were using as their base of operations. 

“I thought we were on the same side as him.” She couldn’t stop her voice from shaking.  
“You are on my side. If you are ungrateful, I can always drag you back out to that damn tree and do what the doctors did before.” He grabbed her hair and yanked her head to the side, exposing her neck.

She struggled against him, staring at Josh and Tracey. Corey took a step forward and Theo whirled around and snarled at him. Josh dropped her gaze. Tracey watched on in aloofness. 

“See, they know how to respect their Alpha.” His words were slightly slurred around his fangs.

The cold seat brought her back to the present. She was sweating and shaking. She grabbed her water bottle out of her bag and gulped some down. 

“Your mine, and you will do good to remember that. You aren’t Liam’s, you aren’t part of Scott’s pack. You. Are. Mine.” 

She whimpered and nearly spilled her water on herself.

“Hey, are you, like, ok?” A voice from outside of the stall asked.  
“Yeah, I-i’m fine.”

Hayden struggled to gather herself before leaving the bathroom. The halls had emptied out pretty much. She headed out towards the parking lot.

“Hayden!” She whirled around with a snarl as someone ran up to her.  
“Hey-” Liam jumped back as she swiped at him with her claws.  
“Liam! Sorry!” She quickly flicked her claws back in.  
“Are you ok?” He asked, looking her up and down.  
“Yeah.” 

He hesitated before speaking next.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”  
“About what?”  
“About Theo being back.”

She sucked in a breath. Liam watched as her confident facade collapsed and she sobbed in a breath.

He immediately went to hug her, but she flinched back, stumbled, and fell onto the ground. Tears were streaming down her face and she fought for breath. Liam stood stock still. 

What do I do?! He thought. 

He slowly lowered himself down next to her. 

“Hayden?” He asked quietly.

She didn’t respond.

He slowly brought his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t flinch back again. He carefully pulled her into his arms and hugged her loosely. She in turn, buried her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around his midsection.

He let her sob into his chest, carefully rubbing her back and nuzzling the top of her head. On the inside he was a roiling mass of rage. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He fought to keep himself from shifting in front of the student parking lot. His fangs threatened to spring from his gums and the inner wolf was clawing to get out. He was going to find Theo and rip him apart. Slowly and painfully. The wolf started to howl with excitement at the thought.

As Hayden started to calm down a little, she was aware of the fact that Liam was shaking, just the slightest bit. She could feel the rage coming off of him in waves. She reburied her head in his chest and slowly started to trace along his spine with her fingers. He went ramrod straight before slowly relaxing. Liam’s head cleared and he once again became aware of his girlfriend who he was hugging to his chest. 

“Are you ok?” He asked her.

She slowly nodded and released her grip on him.

She started to swipe the tears off her face and he watched her. 

“Let’s go to the burger shop.” He suggested as her breathing evened out. 

She wordlessly nodded and let him lead her over to the nearest bus that hadn’t yet left.  
-  
As they walked into the joint, she was met with the smell of frying oil and grilling meat. Eating made her feel better. That and Liam didn’t let go of her hand. He suggested that they head over to the park and work on homework. She nodded not feeling very into the mood to do school, but if it made Liam stop giving her worried looks, she would do it.

But by the time that they were over to their usual study spot, she had a small smile on her face again. 

They settled down and worked on homework for about 15 mins. She soon crawled over and laid her head on his chest and looked out to watch the sun start to droop down below the horizon. He slowly ran his finger through her hair and talked about random topics. He had set his phone on the ground next to him, so if there was any news he wouldn't have to disrupt Hayden. 

She was just starting to drift off in a nap when she felt the air shift.

The breeze that had been blowing earlier swept over them, carrying the scents from the forest. Damp mud, decaying leaves, and something more sour.

She sat up and took another deep inhale.

All the peace of the afternoon left in an instant.

She scrambled up.

“What is it?” Liam asked confused.  
“He’s here.” She breathed out.  
“What?” Liam jumped up and whipped his head around, trying to catch the scent.

A twig snapped in the forest and he caught sight of someone disappearing behind a tree.

“We should go.” He said and they quickly dashed down the path to the road.  
“Where should we go?” Hayden panicked.  
“Towards the school, they were going to get together to look for him there I think.” Liam answered and turned his head back towards the forest, it was eerily quiet.

He wanted to go back there and take the bastard down here and now, but he knew he needed to get Hayden to safety.

They charged out onto the road and ran at supernatural speed. Liam looked back the way they had come to see if they were being followed and Hayden pulled him out of the road in time to avoid getting hit by a car. He saw a shadow by a tree, he didn’t know if it was a person or a branch, but he put on another burst of speed. 

The sun had now almost completely dropped below the horizon.

They just focused on running now.

Hayden suddenly slid to a stop and Liam nearly rammed into her. 

“Wha-” He looked at the road in front of them.

Strolling towards them was the devil himself. He had a cynical grin on his face.

Hayden stood rooted to the spot. She couldn’t move. It was like he had pinned her there with his eyes.

“Hayden!” Liam grabbed her and pulled her off the road and into the trees. 

Bushes tore at their clothes and skin as they ran. They stumbled onto another road and started down it. Liam was beginning to recognize where they were. There was an overpass just ahead of them. They had been by here when escaping the Dread Doctors. He looked back and saw a shadow following them. They couldn’t seem to shake the Chimera. He growled and looked around. At this rate, he would catch up to them, and it might be too late then. They rounded the corner and he zeroed in on the manhole in the road.

“Come on.” he grabbed Hayden’s hand and tugged her over to it. 

He used his claws to get under the lid and heaved it up. The smell of something rotting immediately assaulted them. Hayden looked at the hole with a queasy look on her face.  
“Get in!” Liam ordered and she grudgingly climbed down into the depths.

As he dropped down he slid the cover back into place. He had looked for Theo before securing it and there had been no sign. 

Hayden had her arms wrapped around herself and she was looking around in suspicion.  
“That should hopefully give us a few minutes to get away.” Liam assured her and they started down the hall.

She followed behind him as he started to wind through the endless tunnels. When they had been down here before, they had scratched marks into the walls to make sure they weren’t going in circles. He was now using them to try to find his way out. A loud scraping and a clanging noise echoed through the halls. Hayden turned and looked at Liam fearfully. 

“Just keep going.” He said as he tugged her along.

They descended further and further into the maze. As they came to a crossroads they slid to a stop.

“Do you think we lost him?” Hayden asked fearfully.

“I don’t know but I hope so.” They continued, slower now.

They were looking for a way back up to the surface. Each turn Hayden feared that they would run into the other boy. She didn’t even try to locate the nearest exit by scent because the horrid mix of chemicals and urine down here was enough to make her breath out of her mouth. 

Liam reached for his phone before remembering where he left it. On the ground at the park. 

“Shit. Do you have your phone?”  
“Yeah.” Hayden pulled hers out and tried to make a call.  
“I don’t have any service down here.” She muttered.  
“It’s ok, we just need to find an exit!” Liam assured her and they continued on.

They stopped at another cross road.

Liam strained to hear anything to help him. He could sense the occasional car drive by over them but that was it. Then he heard something else. Foot steps. Hayden seemed to pick up on them as well.

“Where are they coming from?” She whispered.

“I don’t know.”

The steps stopped. Both of the wolves held their breath. The steps continued. They breathed out.

They picked up their pace. Once again running through the labyrinth. Liam thought he detected a change in the air. Just the slightest bit but it was enough to make him stop and slid around a corner to follow it. Hayden almost ran by him before he grabbed her.

He knew they were getting closer to an exit, he could feel it.

What he did not expect was to run head first into a pipe. 

He crashed onto his back and yelped. Pain exploded across his forehead and stars danced in his vision. Hayden was trying to haul him up but he couldn’t focus on his legs. 

“Why do I always have to do everything?” Hayden growled before hauling Liam up unto her shoulder and continuing down the tunnel. 

He groaned as he was jostled and hoped he would heal fast. 

Hayden caught on to what Liam had felt earlier and was full tilt sprinting for her life. She needed to get out of here. Here she felt claustrophobic, trapped, and like prey. 

She skidded to a stop at a fork. She tilted her head, trying to sense which way she should go.  
She also listened for footsteps and heard none. She charged down the left tunnel.

Hayden slowed to a walk as Liam started to stir.

She heard a new sound. It sounded like another heartbeat. And it was coming from the right-

“Found you.” 

That was all the warning she had before something slammed into her and Liam and they crashed to the ground in a side room.

Her head slammed into the floor and she was momentarily dazed. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She slowly lifted her head up and tried to focus on the person standing in front of her.

“You sure are a slippery one.” He informed her and smiled.

She scrambled backwards and he followed.

“Going into the tunnels was smart, you got smarter.” He praised as he stood before her.  
“How did you find us?” Hayden gasped out. “There is no way to track us down here!” 

He slowly stepped forward and crouched down in front of her.

“When I was done here looking for Lydia, I was able to find her by listening to Valak’s voice.” Theo tapped the nearest pipe. “Through these.”

Hayden swallowed thickly as he rose and took another step towards her.

“It also was a nice homing beacon when he slammed his face into one of the pipes.” Theo snickered at Liam.

“Enough about me.” He smiled. “I came back for you, Hayden.”

“Why.” She whispered.  
“You’re my beta, I couldn’t leave you alone for long.”  
“I’m not your beta.” She snarled at him with more confidence than she felt.  
“Oh, yeah. I heard. Your Scott’s beta now.” He shook his head in disgust. “After everything I did for you.”  
“You helped kill us, then you forced us to work with you!” Hayden yelled.

He took another dangerous step closer to her and she immediately flinched back.

“I gave you a second chance. They said you were a failure. But I know potential when I see it.”  
“You’re psychotic.” She hissed.

Faster than she could react, his hand shot out and grabbed her hair. She shrieked as he yanked her up.

“No, I am just a visionary.” He hissed in her ear.

A furious roar rang out and Theo was ripped away from Hayden. She dropped to the floor as Liam slammed Theo into the wall. Liam had completely shifted and was beyond pissed off. He had woken from his daze to see Theo standing over Hayden. As soon as his head cleared he had attacked.

He drew his hand back and swiped at Theo’s throat. The older Chimera dodged and shoved the beta off of him. Theo’s eyes glowed yellow, a match for Liams and he growled. Liam took the challenge and charged again, this time he felt his claws slice through flesh and heard the other boy gasp. Boldend by the blood Liam swiped again. Theo ducked and spun around behind Liam. The beta instinctively jumped forward and narrowly avoided getting clawed.  
Theo advanced on Liam. Hayden watched the battle unfold from the floor. 

She needed to help but she couldn’t seem to get herself to move. A feeling of helplessness washed over her. Then a new sensation took over. It was like she was feeling an out of body experience. It was over as quickly as it came and she was left gasping on the floor.

Theo kicked Liam and hit him in the ribs, forcing the breath out of him. Theo slammed his whole weight into the smaller kid and crushed him against the wall. Liam spat blood into Theo’s eyes, blinding him. Theo cursed and snarled, pressing his arm harder into Liam’s rib cage. He heard a satisfying crack and the wolf cried out.

He cleared the spit from his eyes and drew his hand back, preparing to end the fight when another weight slammed into him.

The new attacker clung to his back like he was giving them a ride. Hayden sank her teeth into Theo’s shoulder and buried her claws into his other arm to stay on. The Chimera howled in pain. She revelled at the feeling of her claws slicing through tendon and muscle. Her mouth quickly filled with blood but she didn’t care.

Hayden clung on as he bucked, trying to dislodge her but her jaw was locked. 

Theo stumbled around, looking for anything to help him. He spotted it, a power outlet. He staggered over to it and dug his claws into the source. Electricity flooded his body.

Hayden let out a muffled cry as she felt static start to build up. Theo roared and a burst of electricity shot off of him and sent Hayden flying. She hit the ground and was still for a moment as the electricity coursed through her body. 

Liam starred as the electricity started to arc around the Chimera. He cursed himself for forgetting, he had Josh’s power. 

He grabbed the nearest thing to him, a broken pipe, and roared at Theo, drawing his attention away from Hayden. He charged again and swung the pipe. Theo dodged and spun around and away from him. Liam smiled and prepared to hurl the pipe. Then he felt his arm start to go numb. He looked and saw a small cut on his forearm. Small enough that he wouldn't have noticed it under normal circumstances. Theo smiled and stalked towards him again. Liam snarled and raised his other arm. That too went numb as Theo clawed him. He couldn’t avoid the final slash across the back of his neck even though he saw it coming a mile away.  
He collapsed to the ground about 7 feet away from Hayden as his whole body went numb.

“Jesus. You’ve gotten smarter too since I was here.” Theo laughed and rubbed his shoulder where Hayden had bit him. “Either that or you finally found control.”

Hayden watched as his wounds started to heal and close.

She had finally healed enough from the shock wave to move. Not that it did her much, she was helpless as he stalked forward. 

“Now where were we before I was interrupted.” He narrowed his eyes at her.  
“That’s right, I was reminding you of who you really belong to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a loooooong chapter folks and I hope you enjoyed it! I didn't particularly like Layden in the tv show but writing it has actually made me like it better. Anyways the thing about Betas sharing their location with their Alphas is entirely my idea and its not canon.
> 
> Thank you for reading as always feel free to leave kudos or feedback!


	4. Cage Opened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Show down whoop whoop.

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--  
“Dad- dad they’re in the sewer pipes. They are in the East section. We need all the reinforcements or Parrish or something!” Stiles ordered through the phone.  
“How do you know where they are?” The sheriff asked.  
“I was tracking Malia’s phone before the signal cut out. We need to get there now, because Theo has Hayden.”

And Scott was running blindly into danger, as usual. He seemed intent on giving Stiles a heart attack. Not that Stiles tried to dissuade him anymore. He had tried a lot in the beginning of this whole supernatural adventure, it hadn’t worked. SO now he was just left worrying his ass off whenever his friend went off with no backup or support. 

“Ok look I am on my way. Parrish is on another call but I’ll try to get him there as soon as I can.”  
“Ok, bring like a rifle, or 3.” Stiles said before hanging up.

He flew around a corner, ran a stop sign, and got honked at by 3 different people. Ok maybe his friends were right, he should not drive when he was stressed. He saw his destination up ahead and floored it.

Stiles screeched to a halt and twisted in his seat, trying to grab his bat. He looked at his phone to see how far away his dad was. About 2 minutes. He growled at his phone before getting out. Scott’s bike was lying discarded on its side. The entrance to the sewer pipeline was not very appealing, but that was understandable, it was the sewer. 

As he contemplated charging in without waiting, he had a powerful feeling of deja vu. He hadn’t ever been to this entrance to skate, in fact, he had never been here before. He narrowed his eyes at it and another wave hit him. He braced himself against his jeep.

The strange buzzing that had accompanied the Dread Doctors filled his head. He whirled around, searching. But there was nothing else there but him.

He continued to stare at the entrance, trying to figure out how he felt like this.

The Sheriff pulled his police cruiser in beside his son’s blue jeep. Climbing out he noticed Stiles staring at the entrance with a confused look and his mouth partially open.

“Stiles?”

His son practically jumped a mile in the air when he spoke.

“What-” He whirled around with the bat held ready before realizing who it was.  
“You ok?” Stilinski asked slightly concerned.  
“Yeah.” Stiles looked back at the entrance before focusing back on his dad. “Any word from Parrish?”  
“He said he’d come as soon as he could get away.” The sheriff answered as he grabbed a bag out of his glove compartment that he kept with him at all times now walked up to the entrance. 

The bag contained a syringe and some heavy sedative mixed with some other supernatural ingredients. Deaton had given it to him so if he ever came across a supernatural that needed to get subdued, he could.

“So they're in there?”

An ominous roar echoed down the hall to the pair in answer.

“Yep.”  
“And it is just Theo?”  
“Well yeah, but it sounds like he has Josh’s electricity powers and the kanima powers.” Stiles explained.  
“Ok, and we have a bat and a gun.” The sheriff stated.  
“Yep.”  
“Ready?”  
“Absolutely.”

They descended into the tunnels.  
-  
A new roar boomed into the room. This roar seemed to shake the whole building.

Theo whirled around as something big crashed into the room and threw him against the opposite wall.

Liam tried to turn his head towards the new attacker, but he was still incapacitated. He did see Theo go flying and smash into the wall. The other boy was able to curl up to avoid breaking most of his ribs and back. Still, Liam listens to the crackling of bones. When Theo looked back up, his eyes were filled with fear, just for the briefest moment, but Liam still saw it.

Hayden lifted her head back up off the floor and stared up at her savior.

Scott was standing in a defensive position, putting Hayden behind him and Theo in his path of rage. She could feel the power and anger rolling off of the Alpha like she never had before.

“Theo!” Scott snarled. 

Neither of the betas needed to see Scott’s face to know that he had wolfed out. 

“Scott.” Theo replied in greeting. “Wasn’t expecting to meet you down here.”  
“I thought we made it clear that you should stay as far away from here as possible.” Scott growled.  
“Well,” Theo slowly stood up and winced as he grabbed his ribs. “I had some unfinished business.”  
“With my beta.”  
“She technically was my beta first.” He slowly slid along the wall.

Scott didn’t move from his position in front of Hayden.

“I think you bit her just to add to your power. You don’t actually care about her.” He baited Scott.  
“She chose to stay here.” Scott snapped at the Chimera. “And she chose to let me bite her.”  
“Yeah well I think you just wanted to add to your own power. Especially after what happened with Liam on the supermoon.” Theo egged.

Scott let out another low warning growl and narrowed his eyes at the Chimera.

“She never asked for your help.”

Theo was nearing the outlet that he’d used against Hayden. Her eyes widened as she realized what he was doing.

“Scott-“ she started to say.  
“Well if it weren’t for me, she would still be dead.” Theo roared back.

He plunged his claws into the power source and sent a bolt of electricity at Scott. Scott managed to avoid the head and chest shot but still was hit in the arm.

He dropped with a thud as the electricity shot through him. 

Liam let out a roar but still couldn’t move. He tried desperately to get himself to heal but his claws couldn’t reach his leg to jumpstart it. 

Theo let out a savage laugh.

“Big bad alpha, made the silly little mistake of forgetting. I’m my own pack Scott, cause I was brave enough to take the power when I had the chance.” Theo was stalking towards the werewolf now.

Scott was still seizing on the ground as his body worked to dispel the electrical currents. He was still glaring his red eyes at Theo.

“I killed you once, now I get to do it again.” Theo raised his hand and hit Scott with another bolt. 

A furious snarl caused Theo to whirl around. A missile of fur slammed into him and teeth tore into his side. Another body slammed into his legs and made him topple. 

Theo threw the first thing off of him and snarled at the attackers. The smaller of the 2 was a coyote, the other was a massive black wolf. They both had glowing blue eyes.

“Damnit.” He hissed and bared his teeth at the Hales.

They charged again and he sent a burst of electricity. They were both knocked down.

The black wolf recovered first and started to circle the Chimera. Theo followed him, he considered shifting fully as well but decided against it. He had the upper hand in a bipedal stance. 

Derek stopped when he stood in front of Scott and Hayden, who had dragged herself closer to the Alpha. 

The wolf stamped his front foot and snarled at Theo. 

“I am going to guess that you are Derek.” Theo said.

A growl was the response he got.

“I’ve heard all kinds of stories about you. About how you clawed your own Uncle’s throat out to be Alpha.” The wolf didn’t move, just continued to glare at him.  
“Then you went on to bite 3 teenagers. Predictably that didn’t go too well.” The wolf twitched just the slightest bit.

He smiled.

“And if I remember correctly, one was killed by a pack of Alphas. The second one died by your own claws, and the last one, switched packs to Scott’s.” Theo laughed. 

Derek growled low and dangerously but didn’t budge.

“Tough crowd.”

It was taking all of his self control to not tear the teens throat out. But Derek knew that he couldn’t let the crafty bastards words get to his head. He reached out with his senses and heard what sounded like a car’s beeping. Hopefully that would be someone helpful. They had him outnumbered, well they should. But Scott was still down, Liam was paralyzed and based on the fear that was radiating off of Hayden, she was useless. It was up to him and Malia to keep the Chimera occupied. The only problem was, the Chimera was quickly healing.

“Look Derek, this doesn’t have anything to do with you. I am here for Hayden, let me leave with her, and no one else has to get hurt.” Theo said diplomatically. 

Derek refocused his attention on Theo.

He didn’t dare take his eyes off of him as Malia silently stood up and stalked forward. He remembered hearing somewhere that coyotes could walk on their toes. He could hardly hear her as she walked but he still let out a snarl to help divert attention.

“What loyalties do you have to him anyways. I mean he has nearly gotten you killed multiple times. Hell, I’d say your life was a lot better before-” He whirled around as Malia lunged at him. 

He caught her by the neck and slammed her down onto the ground. She let out a pain filled yelp and struggled against him. Theo roared at her and dug his claws into her fur. The smell of new blood was all it took for Derek to spring into action. He tucked his head down to his chest and smashed into the teen. 

Claws, fur, and blood flew as they descended into a dog fight.

Or that was until Theo got a good grip on them both and sent enough electricity coursing through them to make them both shift back to humans. For good measure, he injected each of them with a dose of venom. Derek let out a string of curses that Malia joined in on. He was beyond done with the stupid kanima paralysis.

Theo stood up and cracked his neck. 

“Now, if nobody minds, I am going to take what I came for.”

He turned back towards Hayden, who was laying next to Liam. Scott’s body had disappeared.

“Oh sh-” Theo whirled as the Alpha tackled him to the ground. 

Scott was filled with enough rage to fuel a tanker ship. The sound of Derek and Malia’s howls of pain had caused something to snap in his mind. Theo slashed his claws at Scott but his arm was suddenly caught in a vice grip, next his wrist was shattered. 

Scott didn’t give him time to process the pain as he started ripping his claws into his midsection. He roared and slammed Theo’s head into the concrete floor. Blood was starting to pool around them. His senses seemed to be on steroids right now because he felt the static build up long before it was ready to hit him. He easily dodged it and jumped off of the Chimera. The other teen rolled away, hugging his broken left wrist to his chest. Theo tried to stand up but slipped on his own blood and had to scramble back on the floor. Scott advanced and grabbed him by his neck. He easily hauled him off the floor and slammed him into the wall. He dug his claws into Theo’s good hand, effectively wrecking his chances of using his venom.

Liam watched as Scott tore into Theo. He had not seen Scott fight like this ever, even when he had been fighting Peter. Then he got a good look at his Alpha’s face. His eyes had gone completely red and his face was covered in dark fur. His features were contorted to that of a monsters

“Scott…” Liam mumbled in confusion. 

Theo was staring in fear at the beast that was holding him now. He had never known Scott to lose control like this. It looked like someone else was driving the Alpha’s body right now. But then he heard the beta mutter Scott’s name. Scott seemed to blinked back to reality and shook his head slightly. Some of the beastial look vanished. 

Scott sagged a little as he came too. Just enough for Theo to take his opportunity. He slammed his head into Scott’s face and ducked. He didn’t count on the werewolf to respond very fast. 

Scott’s foot shot out and hit his knee, snapping his leg like a twig. He was once again held by his neck. Whatever break in the storm had come over Scott was once again swept away.

“You came here, to attack my friends, my pack. And you thought you were going to get away with it.” Scott growled.

Theo thrashed but it was futile. He couldn’t escape.

“You killed innocent kids, you tore my pack apart, and you killed me.” Scott snarled.

Scott tightened his grip on Theo’s neck, causing him to gasp and struggle harder.  
All his attention was focused on the boy in front of him. He did not hear the other people enter the room.

Stiles and the Sheriff burst into the room to see that chaos had erupted. Walls had cracked running all over them, blood and hair was spread all around the room and splattered on the walls, and there were 3 bodies on the floor. Stiles let out a thankful breath when he realized that they were breathing.

His attention was then drawn to Scott and Theo. Both were covered in blood and one of Theo’s legs was lying at an odd angle. Scott on the other hand was holding the other boy up by his neck. He was saying something to Theo that he couldn’t quite hear but he was very alarmed when the boy started struggling for oxygen.

“Scott?” Stiles took a step forward.

Scott gave no indication of hearing him.

Theo on the other hand tilted his head the little amount he could to stare wide eyed at Stiles.

“Scott!” The Sheriff called. “It’s ok we can take him now.”

Scott still did not respond and instead narrowed his eyes at Theo. It became very clear that he was in a very different mindset than usual.

“Hey Scott, just let him go. My dad’s here to haul his ass to Eichen.” Stiles took another step closer.

Scott growled and began to raise his clawed hand up.

“Scott, let him go now!” Stilinski ordered again.

Liam was slowly getting up off of the floor. The numbness in his limbs was still present but at least he could move. He looked at Hayden and she looked as concerned as he felt. What had come over their alpha?

“Scott!” Liam tried again as he struggled to stand.

The sheriff pulled his hand gun out and pointed it at the 2 boys. He never thought that he would have to hold a gun to Scott. Scott. His son’s best friend. Not even when he found out that Scott was a werewolf did he ever picture this. But seeing the boy standing there, covered in blood, fangs bared and eyes glowing, he felt a kind of fear he didn’t know he harbored.

“Scott I am going to give you 5 seconds.” Noah warned.  
“Wow, hey dad, what are you doing?” Stiles stared at his dad in horror.  
“5, 4.”

The Alpha continued to glare down at the Chimera.

_Kill him._

A voice snarled in his mind. 

_Kill him now._

Kill him? 

_You have the power to. You have the power to end his miserable life._ It snarled.

But I’m not a killer. Scott thought and his hand lowered a little.

 _You're a werewolf. You're an Alpha. Act like one._  
I’m a werewolf not a monster.

_He attacked your pack, and he’ll do it again unless you kill him._

Scott felt as though he was standing on a precipice. He didn’t know which way he would tip. The smell of blood and the creature talking to him was making it hard for him to focus.

_He hurt Stiles. He attacked him, he manipulated him. If you don’t do anything, he will kill Stiles. Is that really what you want?_

That was enough to make Scott snap. Nobody was going to be a threat to Stiles, nobody was going to hurt him ever again if he had his way. And here Theo was, a threat. He brought his hand back up.

_Now, end him._

Scott wanted to, he wanted to crush Theo’s skull. He wanted to feel his blood and life drain out of him. He was going to protect Stiles. He was going to-

A shot rang out next to his ear. 

He jerked back and whirled to see who had fired.

The sheriff had his gun leveled on Scott with Stiles standing with his mouth agape. 

“Scott, let him go.” The sheriff said again.

Scott’s eyes widened. He quickly dropped Theo and staggered back. His anger and rage dissipated and he shifted back. Stilinski carefully walked forward, still wary of Scott. But Scott was backing away in horror. 

Theo was still gasping for air on the ground when he started to talk.

“How…? The… doctors… why are you... still with him?” Theo gasped at Stiles. 

Stiles shot a confused look at his father and Scott.

“You have the right to remain silent.” The sheriff said as he kneeled down and injected him with sedative. 

Stiles threw his jacket around Malia and his dad did the same for Derek.

Scott looked at his betas.

“Are you ok?” He asked, his voice was shaky.  
“Yeah.” Liam looked at Hayden who nodded. “We’re fine.”

Scott turned and watched the Sheriff handcuff the unconscious Chimera. Now that the fog had cleared from his mind, he saw the damage that he had down to the other teen. He tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. 

“Is it over?” Malia asked from her spot on the floor. 

“Yes.” Stilinski answered.

Liam walked over and offered to carry Theo as Scott hauled Derek up into his shoulder. Liam was not about to have Hayden carry him that’s for sure and the Sheriff didn’t say anything, but Liam knew that he didn’t want Scott near the Chimera.

Hayden helped Stiles carry Malia instead after he shooed Scott’s offer away.

They walked silently down the tunnels. Scott kept his eyes on the floor while everyone else seemed to exchange a series of glances. Derek was rather unhappy about the fact that he was having to be carried out and he made sure everyone knew by glaring at them whenever they looked at him. 

Once they were outside, Liam dumped the sedated teen into the back of the cruiser while Scott, Hayden, and Stiles loaded Derek and Malia into the jeep. 

“Do you want someone to ride with you?” Stiles asked his dad.

Noah looked at the unconscious teen in his car and shook his head. 

“I’ll be fine.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes, now get them home.” He nodded to the kids around Stiles’ jeep.  
“Ok.” Stiles huffed out a breath, shot Theo a glare, and headed back to his own car.

They had given Derek and Malia a towel and a blanket to give them some dignity.  
Scott was trying to wipe as much blood off of himself as he could with the last towel.

Derek was leaned up against the door in his front seat, Malia was in the back, with Scott, Hayden and Liam in the middle. It was a little cramped and the werecreatures had fogged up his windows.

Stiles looked back at the entrance. The feeling of recurrence was still very strong. He shook his head and sat down behind the wheel.

They followed his father all the way to Eichen in silence. No one knew what to say or if they should even say anything.

The only times he had seen Scott look that wild had been when he first got bitten. And that anger had been directed at him. Stiles had seen him struggle when he became an Alpha but he had been in enough control to make sure that he wasn’t in any real danger. What he saw back there was murderous. 

Derek started twitching as the venom wore off. After Theo was safely dropped off Stiles headed to Derek’s place first. 

Scott jumped out of the car with him.

“Thank you.” Scott said quietly.

Derek grimaced.  
“I’ve seen you run head first into enough situations to know that you can’t be left alone for very long.”

Scott’s mouth twitched up before dropping his gaze back to the ground.

“Scott…” Derek started, trying to place his words. “He attacked your pack, he betrayed you, hell, he killed you.” Scott met the older wolf’s eyes.  
“You have every reason to feel how you did. You were protecting your pack.” Derek clapped a hand on his shoulder before heading into the building to get clothes on.

Next they dropped off Malia. 

She nodded when Scott thanked her.

“At least I got a few good hits in.” She said.

He nodded in agreement.

“If you didn’t kill him I would have happily.”

Scott tensed up.

Crap wrong thing to say. She thought.

“Look Scott. You don’t have to be perfect all the time.” She tried. “It’s ok to let go a little.”

She waited for him to nod before she slipped into her house.

They stopped in front of Hayden’s house finally.

Liam climbed out with Scott and Hayden. 

There was no one in her house as far as Hayden could tell. Which was good because she didn’t know what she would tell her sister. 

“I am so sorry that I didn’t get there earlier.” The alpha apologized.  
“You got there as fast as you could. I still don’t know how you found us.” Liam replied.  
“I don’t really either.” Scott shook his head. “Derek said that betas have this ability if they are in a lot of stress, they can share their location with their Alpha or something.”  
“Wow.” Liam replied looking impressed.

Scott seemed reluctant to leave Hayden alone but Liam said that he would stay with her. She nodded gratefully to him and shivered.

Scott finally relented.

She watched as he started to make his way back to the jeep. His shoulders were slumped in defeat and shame. 

“Scott!” She called.

He turned in time to have her arms wrap around him. He stood confused for a moment before returning the hug. Hayden didn’t really know what compelled her to hug him but it was the only way she could think of to thank him. That and she knew he needed it. 

She slowly released him and headed back to Liam. Scott waited until they were inside and the door locked before climbing back into the jeep. Stiles nodded to Scott. They started back towards their side of town.

“Ok. Do you want to go to your house or my house?”

Scott looked up at him for the first time since they had left the sewer. The tension that had seemed to be between them had momentarily lifted. Scott still had some spatters of blood on his face.

“Look I’m not going to leave you alone after… that, just happened.” Stiles waved his hand to emphasize the that.

Scott slowly blew air out of his nose.

“Let’s just go to your house. My mom has a late shift.”

They finally stopped in front of Stiles’ house and both clambered out. Scott grabbed his bike from the back of the jeep where he had loaded it from the sewer.

Stiles unlocked the kitchen door and they stepped into the dark house. Stiles pulled something out of the fridge and threw it on the microwave. Scott went to grab a glass for water but stopped when he saw his hands. They were covered in dry blood.

Stiles noticed Scott staring at his hands, which had started to shake. 

“Hey.” Stiles walked over and hesitantly grabbed Scott’s arms to steer him over to the sink.

Scott slowly started to scrub the blood off his hands as Stiles finished making them something to eat.

He didn’t feel like eating much but he hoped that Scott would try to.

“I’m going to change. You should eat.” He told Scott and nodded to the plate.

He had Malia’s blood on his shirt and his clothes smelled like the sewers.

Scott nodded as Stiles ran upstairs.

When he came back, Scott was absently eating the leftover pasta Stiles had heated up. He handed his friend a bundle of clothes that he could change into. 

He threw their dirty clothes into the washer and headed back up to his room with the werewolf following him.They finally settled down with Stiles in his chair and Scott sitting on his bed. 

“So what was the thing about a beta being able to send out a distress signal?” He asked Scott, trying to draw his mind away from wherever it was now.

“Derek said it is way for if they were in danger, they could signal their Alpha and show them where they were so the Alpha could find them.”  
“So that’s how you knew where they were.”  
“I had seen that room when we were looking down there before. The marks on the walls helped too.” Scott replied.  
“Well that would have been very helpful so many times before this.” Stiles muttered.  
“I know.” Scott agreed.  
“Well at least Theo’s locked up somewhere that can actually hold him.” Stiles said with relief. “Well unless we are trying to break someone out.”

Scott snorted and Stiles saw some of his usual self surface.

“I just hope Hayden will be ok.” He said and rubbed his face.  
“I think as soon as you showed up she was better.” Stiles responded.  
“Yeah but Theo took me down.” Scott was staring at the wall. “That’s why Derek and Malia had to step in and get injured. That’s why he almost walked away with Hayden.”  
“But you stopped him.” Stiles assured him.  
“Stopped him? Stiles I almost killed him.” Scott stood up off the bed and started pacing.

He was keeping a careful distance from the human. He didn’t know if he would spontaneously snap again. 

“You didn’t though.” Stiles stood as well.  
“That’s the thing.” Scott ran his hands through his hair roughly before meeting Stiles’ eyes.

Stiles could see that they were bloodshot with stress.

“If it weren’t for your father, I would have.” He said and sat back on the bed.

Stiles watched as he took in a shaky breath.

“Stiles, I wanted to kill him. I wanted to tear his head off. I was going to. It was like something had taken over my body, but I knew exactly what I was doing.” He was breathing rapidly now.

Stiles realized that he was about to have a panic attack.

“Scotty.” He rushed over and grabbed his shoulders. “Scott breath.”

Scott grabbed onto Stiles’ arms hard, trying to steady himself. Stiles ground his teeth to keep from yelping in pain as the werewolf clung onto him. 

“Ok Scott, breath with me.” Scott looked up at Stiles, his eyes glowing red.

“In.” Stiles sucked in air and watched Scott do the same. “Out.”

They continued to do this until Scott’s breathing returned to normal. Stiles had many memories of his father doing this exact same thing with him when he was younger.

Scott’s eyes blinked back to brown. He finally realized how close their faces were. He could make out the little darker flecks of brown in the human’s eyes. He let go of Stiles’ arms. Stiles couldn’t help the sigh of relief as blood started to circulate again.

“I-I’m sorry.” Scott’s eyes widened and he stuttered before he dropped his head into his hands.

God, he forgot how destructive he was. He had proven that just an hour before. He had just caused Stiles’ pain by touching him. He was a monster.

I am a danger. I am a monster. I am a danger.

Stiles ran and got a cup of water. Nearly tripping on a chair and spilling the contents. Scott hesitantly took the cup, careful to not touch and harm Stiles in any way. 

Stiles sat down next to his friend and slowly wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He did not know if this violated his code. Scott tensed up considerably. Stiles thought that he might pull away, instead he just sat stock still.

“Scott, you have managed to keep yourself in control for most of this whole thing. I mean, a dead pool, a beta, Dread Doctors. You have been amazing really. I don’t blame you for almost killing him. None of us do.” Stiles explained.

Scott stared at the wall. Stiles had no idea what had been the final thing to make him snap. That the monster in his mind had used his weakness, one of the people he cared most about in life, to drag him into the deep end. He had been ready to kill, in his already muddled mind, he had been ready to kill because Theo had posed a threat to Stiles. Stiles would not have his arm around his shoulders. Stiles would not want to be anywhere near him. Stiles would never forgive him if he found out. 

“It’s just that, everytime I give in a little, someone gets hurt.” Scott mumbled instead.

Stiles opened and closed his mouth.

“I mean, with Liam, with those soldiers after Satomi’s pack, Theo just now.” Scott shook his head.  
“Scott, you're a werewolf. You are literally the Apex predator. A true Alpha. It’s no question that you are dangerous. And that’s just something that comes with this.” Stiles replied.

True Alpha, how many times were people going to tell him that.

Scott didn’t respond. 

“I’m going to have to agree with Malia on this, you shouldn’t have to feel like you have to be perfect all the time.”

He couldn’t stop his mind from returning to the night outside of the animal clinic. Both he and Stiles were soaked to the bone. Stiles was standing with the bloody wrench in his hand and Scott was trying to link Theo’s story with Stiles’. He had felt utterly hopeless as Stiles had yelled at him.

“Not all of us can be true Alpha’s, some of us have to get our hands a little dirty, some of us are human!” Stiles and roared at him.

He sure didn’t feel very worthy after their fight. He was sure that he had lost his best friend. The person that had stuck with him through thick and thin. Who he had had just began to discover that he loved in a different way then he thought.

Then his fight with Liam. Liam who he shared a bond with that he couldn’t describe. He had seen normally kind brown eyes, glow with hatred and a thirst for his blood. He had felt pretty worthless as his pack fell apart. As his body struggled to heal itself. As his world came crashing down. 

Standing in front of Theo tonight had brought back all those memories, and he had lost control of his anger.

“Stiles…” Scott began but his resolve quickly crumbled.

He was greatly enjoying being this close to the human. He also wanted to put as much distance between him and the human as he could. Having Stiles’ arm wrapped around him right now was probably the best thing that had happened all day. But it brought with it the paralyzing fear that he was going to cause injury or damage to his friend. He wanted to melt into his arms and never return. 

He knew that what he wanted to ask wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

“Yeah?” Stiles prompted after Scott didn’t continue.

Scott looked up to meet the human’s eyes.

“What did you feel after Donavan died?” He asked.

The wind left Stiles’ lungs faster than he thought possible. 

Scott watched his eyes widen in shock and his mouth drop open a little bit. He knew he would regret asking. But as much as he regretted it, Scott wanted to know. The monster had told him it would feel amazing. He wanted to know the truth.

Of all the things Stiles had thought he was going to say, he did not expect this.

He struggled to regain his train of thought and get words out of his mouth.

 _“Tell him Stiles.”_ A voice hissed in his ear.

Stiles clenched his jaw as chills washed over him.

 _“Tell him how you felt. How you didn’t feel any guilt. How you felt powerful.”_ The foxes voice grated on his ears as it purred out the word powerful.

Scott dropped his eyes.

“I’m sorry Stiles. I shouldn’t have asked-”  
“It took something away.”

Scott looked up at the human. Stiles was staring at the wall with his jaw clenched.

“I saw him there, the pole through his chest. I felt… relieved.” He let in a shaky breath. “Then it all hit me.” 

They had not talked specifically about Donavan since their trip to pick Kira up. It had not been something either of them wanted to talk about. 

“After, it was like this... pit. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get myself out of it.” He dropped his eyes to the floor. “My dad said that it never really goes away, but helping others seems to help it.”  
“That’s why you're going into Law Enforcement.” Scott mumbled.

Stiles nodded. The chills had finally passed and the fox had retreated in his mind once again.

Scott rubbed his face and just wanted to curl into a ball and never emerge again. This night had gone from bad to worse. Instead he hugged Stiles. Something that surprised them both.

This directly violated the agreement he had made with himself that he was restricting contact. But right now he needed assurance. Scott felt like a bit of him had settled enough that he didn’t feel like a bomb about to go off. Now he just needed someone to help him feel grounded. Someone to make him feel human.

Stiles’ breath caught in his throat. He hadn’t had a hug from Scott in a long time. He had forgotten how much he loved them. He hoped the werewolf wouldn’t pick up on how much his heartbeat picked up. He hugged Scott back and buried his face in Scott’s shoulder, hoping to hide the blush that was creeping up his face. 

After a few moments they broke apart. Stiles stood and grabbed his phone.

It was already approaching 11:30 pm. His dad would probably be getting home around 1 or 2 in the morning at this rate. He plugged his phone in and turned the ringer up to max. If anybody called there was no way they were going to sleep through it. Scott also checked his phone. There was a text from Liam telling him that all was good with them. Scott switched his ringer on as well and opened the windows in the room. He had started doing it so there was constant cool air circulating his own room, something about stale and hot air didn’t go over well with his senses.

Stiles went into the bathroom to wash his face off and brush his teeth.  
“Hey um, do you want me to grab the pads or…” Stiles was asking as he walked out of the bathroom. 

Scott had already set about laying out the sleeping pad next to Stiles’ bed on the floor.  
He was relieved and disappointed at the same time.

Stiles tossed him a blanket before climbing into his own bed. He flicked his lamp off.

As he laid there, his mind started to wander. He was still taking in all the events of the day, all the new discoveries. He still didn’t know what had been going on at the entrance of the sewer pipes, for some reason he couldn’t let it go. 

“Hey Scott?” Stiles propped himself up on his arm and looked down at the dark lump on the floor.  
“Hm?” Scott hummed.  
“Have we been to that sewer entrance before?”

Scott shifted so he was looking up at Stiles.

“No. Or I haven’t. But that one looks really similar to the Northern entrance.” Scott replied after he thought for a moment.  
“Hmmm.” Stiles laid back down and Scott rolled back over.

Maybe that’s what it was.

But it didn’t feel like it was similar. His inner voice argued. I must have been there before!

He pushed the thought stream out and tried to settle down.

Scott listened as the human’s heart beat started to slow down. He tried to force his own thoughts to rest so he could get a little sleep. 

He was struggling for a few reasons.  
a. Stiles Stilinski was sleeping right above him. Scott could just climb in bed next to the him and wrap his arms around him and try to forget all his problems-  
b. The sight of Theo in his claws. The look of fear and distrust in the sheriff’s eyes. The discomfort of the jeep ride home. He had felt them exchange the looks of concern more than they realized. 

He didn’t blame them. He had been a little preoccupied trying to shut out the monster that had been let loose in his mind. It had been present ever since he had been bitten, but only as a fear. It took the form of many different things, but had never been able to get out of the cage Scott had made sure of it. 

Tonight, it had escaped and was not easily being forced back down. He worked on slowing his breathing and his heartbeat. Stiles started mumbling something beside him in his sleep. This helped Scott focus on something besides himself. He finally started to drift off to sleep as the waning moon peeked through the window.

My name is Scott McCall. I am a werewolf. I am in control. I am not a monster. He let that mantra circle his mind.

His last thought was hoping that the next day would be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooza another long chapter done and we might be getting somewhere now! If you can't tell after this chapter and last chapter, I don't like Theo very much. But anyways, I am having too much fun writing Sciles into this story ngl :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, feel free to leave comments or kudos!


	5. Cold Darkness... cuddles?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Troubles a brewn and we get to see Peter again. Also that dang sewer entrance.

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--

Stiles surged awake.

He was covered in a cold sweat and shaking.  
Then he noticed the figure standing above him.  
“Are you ok?” Scott asked.

He had woken up when he had heard Stiles starting to thrash around above him.  
Stiles breathing was coming in short gasps, but he didn’t feel as though he was in any immediate danger. 

Looking around the room he noticed that the sky was just beginning to brighten. He dragged his hand across his eyes and looked at his clock. It was 4:23am.

Scott was still staring at him.

“Yeah, I-i’m good. It was just a dream.”

What was I dreaming about? He thought.

It was one of those dreams that you forget. The ones that scare the crap out of you and put you on edge the rest of the night. He was getting a lot of those recently. 

He was fairly certain that his nightmare had something to do with the sewer entrance. 

Scott nodded before retreating to his own bed. He had been having trouble trying to sleep all night.

Stiles tried to settle back down. He was still shivering. He wrapped his blankets around him and tried to stop his teeth from chattering.

Something had definitely happened at that sewer entrance, he knew that for sure. Maybe he had been there and fallen and gotten a concussion. Someone on lacrosse had gotten a concussion and lost all memory of the week leading up to that moment. But even then, he would have remembered waking up and leaving, right?

He blew warm air into his hands, trying to warm himself up. He didn’t want to keep Scott up. His friend had looked ready to curl up and die the night before, much like when he had first become a werewolf. All the fear and stress was not a good thing to be experiencing at this age. For any of them.

He continued to shake.

“Are you ok?” Came a very sleepy voice.

Stiles pondered his answer. Scott sounded half asleep. He could lie and hope the alpha didn’t catch him. But if he did catch him that would probably just wake him up more.

Ugh, truth it was.

“I’m just really cold.”

Scott sat up. His eyes were still filmy with sleep, and he was probably not fully awake at the moment.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Stiles huffed.

 _You could spoon me you supernatural heating pack._ He thought.

“I can do that.”

Stiles froze as he realized that he had spoken out loud.

“W-what?”  
“Move over.” Scott grumbled as he clambered into bed next to Stiles.

Stiles’ heart had stopped beating. Completely. His heart had frozen along with the rest of his body.

Scott flipped so that he was back to back with Stiles. 

Shit. SHit. Shit. Why me? Why me?

This could go very bad, very very bad-

Holy crap Scott was warm.

Damn werewolves. And their weird high body temperature. 

Even so, he shifted so he was as close to the werewolf as he could get without actually touching him. 

Scott had soon fallen back asleep. 

That was a blessing.

It was strange to believe that this boy in the bed next to him, had hours before been covered in blood and ready to kill. That was the closest he had ever seen Scott. He wasn’t going to lie, it scared him.

He forgot how powerful werewolves were because he spent more time around them when they were human. Even then it was rare to see any of them go apeshit. 

But for some reason, some dark part of him had been thrilled at seeing Scott’s darker side. One he saw rarely. 

Another shiver rippled through him.

Scott mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over and-

Oh jesus. This was bad. Abort. Abort. Run. 

Scott wrapped an arm around Stiles. Hugging him.

Once again Stiles found himself frozen. He was very surprised that his heartbeat had not woken up the wolf. Or all the kimo signals he was no doubt giving off. 

He slowly relaxed as he realized that Scott was not going to wake up. Now that his panic had passed, he found that being cuddled by an asleep Scott McCall was very enjoyable. He smelled good. He was warm. And he didn’t move much. 

The peace that had taken over Stiles mind threatened to drag him back to sleep. He fought back. 

He did not want to slip back into a nightmare. He wanted to stay in this moment forever. Scott would hopefully never know how much this was affecting him. Stiles was fine with that. He just wanted this moment to last forever.

However, sleep managed to overtake him.

Scott slowly woke up. He realized that he was no longer on the floor. He was on Stiles’ bed. 

When had he gotten there?

Someone sighed and shifted in his arms.

Oh crap.

His eyes widened and he focused on the person that he was currently cuddling.

Stiles' whole body was relaxed in sleep. His breathing steady, his heartbeat slowed, his constant movement halted.

Scott couldn’t see his face, but he could imagine what it looked like. Peaceful.

_Why am I cuddling Stiles?! ___

____

____

He tried to think back to the night. He remembered waking Stiles up from a nightmare, then he didn’t remember anything.

He knew that he needed to get up. He did not know if Stiles had been awake when he had crawled into bed with him, or if he was aware that he was being cuddled, or if he would like to wake up to it. 

God he wanted to stay here. But he also respected his friend too much to stay. 

Scott ever so carefully began to disentangle his arms from around Stiles. He had to stop multiple times so he didn’t wake up the human. Stiles always smelled of sleep deprivation. He did not want to ruin any sleep his friend could get.

Finally he was able to slip off of the bed. He silently moved around the bedroom. Folding up the pad he had slept on and folding the blanket he had used. Something that he had noticed after becoming a werewolf, he could move around almost silently. He stopped and listened. He could hear the sheriffs heartbeat down the hall.

Scott padded down the stairs and grabbed his clothes out of the dryer. He slipped them on and tossed the ones he had worn to bed in the washer. He slipped out of the house.

Driving back to his own house as the sun peeked over the horizon, helped wake him up better. He quietly snuck up to his room. His backpack was next to his desk. His notebook was open on the desk and his math homework glared up at him.

Scott sighed and sat down.  
-  
Stiles woke up because he was cold. He groaned and wrapped his blanket tighter around him. He accidentally opened his eyes and saw that the clock read 6:30.

Well no point in trying to go back to sleep. He slowly sat up. Then realized that something was missing. The werewolf was no longer on his bed. Or on his floor. Or in his room. The pad was put away and the blanket folded up. 

Scott had no doubt dipped out before Stiles was awake. 

Was last night just a bad dream?

No, there was an empty cup of water on the floor. The one Stiles had grabbed for Scott. Ok well then the whole cuddling thing had to have been a dream.

It definitely seemed too good to be true. 

It had to be. It was one of those things that he dreamed about! It didn’t happen in real life.  
But it had felt real. He smelled his shirt. Yep it smelled like Scott.

Oh my god. I got cuddled by Scott McCall.  
-  
“Thank god you’re alright.” Lydia cried when she saw Scott.

Scott managed a smile at the banshee.

“Yeah, maybe a little shook up, but ok.”  
“God Stiles hardly explained anything. I was up all night worrying!”  
“We got there just in time.” Scott assured her.  
“You mean you got there just in time.” Malia cut in as she and Stiles joined them.

Scott nodded and kept his gaze downward. He was not sure if Stiles had been aware of him cuddling him, and if he wasn’t, he wanted to keep it that way. That and he was pretty sure he had started blushing.

“I told you last night we were fine.” Stiles replied.  
“You said that you found Liam, Malia, and Derek paralyzied on the floor. Theo was getting the crap beat out of him and Hayden was probably going to have PTSD.” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.  
“Yeah, then I said everyone was ok and Theo was in Eichen.” Stiles finished.

Lydia glared at him before turning to Scott.

“Are you ok? I mean with the whole Theo and Hayden thing.” She asked.

Scott nodded slowly.

“He’s locked up now and can’t hurt anybody. That’s what matters.”

Lydia watched him for a moment before nodding.

“Any sign of Liam and Hayden?” Malia asked.  
“No but they should be here soon.” Scott replied.

As he finished Stiles caught sight of the lovebirds walking in through the doors. 

“What I want to know,” Lydia began. “Is why Theo was at Peter’s apartment.”  
“Same here.” Stiles said and Malia nodded.  
“I was going to go there after school and ask him.” Malia explained.  
“By ask do you mean tie him up and interrogate?” Stiles questioned.  
“Something like that.” Malia muttered.  
“How about I go with you.” Lydia interjected.

After some grumbling Malia agreed. 

Throughout the school day, Scott kept his eye on Hayden. He was glad that he had something to focus on to keep his mind off of a large number of things. He and Liam would take turns walking her to class, neither wanting her to be alone for too long. He had a simple task. Keep Hayden company and safe. Don’t think about Theo. Don’t think about your own monster. Don’t think about Stiles. Easier said than done.

Hayden didn’t speak much during the day but was grateful for the company. 

The scenes from last night kept circling her head. Theo, the fight, the feeling of complete helplessness. She couldn’t relax and had trouble focusing in class. Someone sneezing would make her jump, someone brushing by her arm would make her flinch, and the fear of turning the corner to see him standing there had her claws ready to flick out at a moment's notice. 

Some of her friends asked her if she was ok.

“Yeah, just tired.” Hayden answered.  
“You don’t look tired, you look like you're waiting to get jumped.” Ashley replied.  
“I’m fine, I promise.”

Her friends exchanged glances.

“Do you want to come over for dinner after soccer practice?” Kaylee asked.  
“I have plans with Liam actually-” Hayden replied before being cut off.  
“Hayden? Seriously? Chick’s before dicks! We haven't seen you in forever!” Ashley tisked her.  
“Come oooon. Pleeeeeease?” Kaylee begged.

Hayden sighed. It’s true she hadn’t seen much of her friends in a while and she had been spending a lot of time with Liam. Maybe a girls night is what she needed.

“Ok, I’ll come.”

Kaylee hugged her before rushing to class.

Hayden started towards her last class and Scott fell into step next to her. 

“Sounds like you’ll have fun tonight.”

She snorted.

“I know the food will be good, Kaylee’s mom makes the best food.”  
“That’s good.” Scott laughed as they stopped in front of her class.

He nodded and started off to his own class. As Hayden sat down, she texted Liam that their plans were off. He immediately texted back.

 _What y?  
I’m going over to Kaylee’s house after practice  
Who’s Kaylee?  
She has dark curly hair, plays forward  
O I think she gives me weird looks in bio  
Not surprised  
So you’ll be ok?  
Yes._  
-  
Malia and Lydia climbed out of Lydia’s blue car.

Peter’s apartment was part of a new development on the edge of town. There were a couple of new families walking down the street. A baby in a stroller stared up at Malia with big brown eyes. It had a bit of drool in its chin. Malia’s nose crinkled in disgust.

Maybe her mother had had a point about not liking children.

They hiked the stairs up to Peter’s door and knocked. 

Malia listened to the heartbeat that was moving around inside.

“Look I don’t want to donate to the park project ok, I have already had three different people come-” Peter said as he opened his door but he stopped when he noticed the coyote and the banshee on his doorstep.

“Well, this is unexpected.”  
“Apparently.” Lydia replied tartly.  
“Well please, come in.” Peter stepped back and ushered them in.

His apartment had not changed much since the last time she had been there. The walls were pretty bare with simple cream colored paint. He had a TV with a couch set in front of it. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure to accommodate you two fine ladies.” Peter asked as he shut the door.  
“Cut the BS, we know that he came here to meet you.” Malia rounded and glared at the wolf.  
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Peter said with feigned confusion. “You’ll have to be more specific on the he, I’ve had a lot of visitors lately.”  
“Theo Raeken.” Lydia answered.  
“Theo, as in the chimera.”  
“Yes that Theo.”  
“Well he might have dropped by.” Peter leaned back on his counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

“What did he want?” Malia growled.  
“Well, he wanted to ask if I still had a grudge against Scott’s pack.” Peter replied.  
“And what did you say?” Lydia asked.  
“I said no. I know when I am outmatched, and I already got my ass beaten once.” Peter replied with an annoyed look.

The girls shared a look.

“And that was it. You said no and he left?” Malia questioned.  
“Well not exactly. He did try to convince me a little more. Preaching how with his help he could help me kill Scott.” Peter explained.  
“He said he was here for Scott’s beta Hayden but he would be willing to help me as well. I told him that might not go over very well but he was pretty hard set. I think something is a little loose up here.” Peter twirled his finger around his temple.

Neither girl was impressed and he sighed.

“And judging from the very angry roar that I heard from here, I’m guessing it didn’t go down too well.”

Lydia and Malia looked at each other.

“He’s locked in Eichen now.” 

Peter’s eyebrows raised a little.

“Things definitely didn’t go over well for him.”  
“What did he want in return.” Lydia asked.

The father and daughter stared at her blankly.

“Well he came here and asked for your help. With his help, you would get Scott’s power and he would get Hayden. That doesn’t seem like a fair trade.” Lydia pointed out.  
“I said the same thing. He said he just wanted to watch Beacon Hills burn. That couldn’t happen unless Scott was dead.” Peter said.  
“Why would Beacon Hills burn?” Malia asked annoyed.  
“I don’t know, that's just what he said.” Peter snapped back.  
“Did he say anything else, or ask anything else?” Lydia asked before Malia could lunge at him.

Peter returned his gaze to the banshee.

“Yes, he asked how Stiles was doing.” 

Malia and Lydia shared a confused and concerned look.

“Why would he care?” Lydia inquired.  
“I don’t know? I didn’t exactly interrogate him.” Peter said exasperatedly.  
“What did you say?” Malia took a step towards him.  
“I said he’s fine as far as I know, maybe a little quieter than usual.” Peter responded. 

Lydia rolled her eyes. 

“Well if you are done interrogating ME, I’d like to get on with my day.”  
“Yeah like doing what?” Malia asked disbelievingly.  
“Well I have been job searching. The bills aren’t going to pay themselves.”  
“Aren’t you, like, loaded?” 

Peter rolled his eyes as he threw his head back.

“I said I am job searching, not desperate.”  
“Whatever.” Malia stalked over to his fridge and started searching for food.  
“You’re sure he didn’t want anything else, or have anything planned?” Lydia continued.  
“Yes. He was pretty hellbent on his single mission.” Peter stepped away from the counter as Malia started making a sandwich.

Lydia shook her head. Last time he had had a clear plan. Break the pack apart, kill Scott, and become the new Alpha. He had been looking for power and a powerful pack to accompany him. She remembered Stiles telling her how Theo had told him that he came for Malia because her first instinct was to kill, Liam because he was strong from his anger, how he came for Kira because her fox was taking over, the banshee, and Void Stiles. He had ended up with a Pack of undead Chimera’s and yellow eyes. 

From what Stiles had filled her in from the night before, Theo had been happy to kill Scott again, but his main goal was Hayden. Maybe Peter was right, there was something seriously wrong with that kid’s head.

“Lydia.” 

She looked up quickly. Peter was watching her.

“What are you thinking?”

She clenched her eyes shut. Peter had this way of talking, that made you want to trust him, made you want to share what’s on your mind. It had been like that even before she had resurrected him. 

“Nothing.”  
“I know it’s never nothing when you get that look on your face.”

She sighed.

“It's just… last time he came for power. This time he was just coming for Hayden.”  
“And this concerns you why?” Peter asked, taking another step closer.  
“Mmm. Wait.” Malia said through a mouth full of food. 

The Banshee and the werewolf turned to look at her.

“Right before Scott attacked him, Theo was saying that he was doing this to protect Hayden.” 

She was pointing her fingers at them rapidly as she spoke, an obvious gesture that she had picked up from Stiles.

“Protect her. From what I heard, it sounded like he was trying to kidnap her.” Peter said, confused.  
“That’s what I thought, he certainly was acting like it.”

Lydia shook her head again. 

“I think the more we try to figure him out, the more confused we all will get.”  
“Maybe.” He turned back to Lydia. “But I think you were on to something before, saying that something doesn’t feel right.”

Lydia looked up at him before nodding. 

“Ok, well, I got what I came here for.” Malia said as she marched towards the door.  
“Same here.” Lydia mumbled. 

The girls made their way towards the door.

“Well thank you for dropping by, interrogating me, and making a mess in my kitchen.” Peter said as a good bye.

Back in the car, the girls looked at each other.

“It seemed like he was telling the truth.” Malia said.  
“Yeah and how many times have we said that before?” Lydia let her head fall back to her head rest.  
“He seems different though. He had this kinda, dark aura around him before. I didn’t realize it at the time, but now that it’s gone, I noticed it.” Malia explained.

Lydia hummed a little, lost in thought.

Something had been bugging Malia since this morning. Well it had been something that she had actually picked up on a few times, but this morning it was more prominent.

“Do you know what’s going on with Scott and Stiles?”

Lydia looked up surprised.

“No, why?”  
“Is it just me, or do they have this, like, weird tension going on?”

Lydia blinked as she thought. 

Now that the coyote had mentioned it, she had noticed something off. 

“You know, I have actually gotten that vibe. Do you think they had a fight or something?”  
“No it’s not that. I seriously need to get some more lessons from Derek about reading kimo signals.”  
“Hmm.” Lydia thought to her most recent encounter with the two. 

Scott had seemed off, Stiles had seemed the same. Scott had been reluctant to meet his friends eyes, had kept a consistent amount of distance between them, and had quickly exited the conversation.

Lydia shook her head.

“Are you really going to try to make sense of Scott and Stiles?”

Malia grimaced and fell silent.

As they drove to Malia’s house, Lydia’s mind descended into turmoil.Their integration of Peter had not been very helpful. Things didn’t seem to add up. An ulterior plan seemed possible.

Now on top of that, her mind was trying to sort out her friends' social interactions. This might be a long night.  
-  
Stiles stared at the entrance in front of him. There was little sign that they had been there the night before. A few dark splatters on the ground that could pass as chemical stains. 

The whole day he hadn’t been able to get the entrance out of his mind. That and the fact that Scott had cuddled him. But the thing that had been at the forefront was the entrance. He had been more unfocused than usual. So here he was standing in front of it.

He didn’t know what he was trying to accomplish, didn’t even really know why he was here. Stiles just was driving home after Lacrosse practice when he found himself driving not in the direction of his house but towards the entrance. 

Kicking a stray rock down the tunnel, he sighed. Maybe he was just going crazy. This was the most exciting thing to happen in weeks, and it had almost ended badly. 

He turned around and climbed back into his Jeep. 

Stiles dropped his bag on the floor of his room and sprawled onto his bed. He grabbed his phone and checked for any messages from Lydia or Malia. Nothing. 

His dad was supposed to pick up dinner for them so he didn’t have to worry about cooking. 

_Well, mine as well do homework._ He thought.

Stiles slid off of his bed and grabbed his bag. As we walked over to his desk, he kicked something under his bed. Throwing his head back with a sigh he dropped onto his knees and reached under his bed. He came back up with a book. 

Absently he tossed it onto his bed and started to unload his bag. 

Finally when he had everything where he liked it on his desk, he leaned back in his chair to grab a pencil off his floor. The book cover caught his attention. He read the title.

The Dread Doctors.

Stiles fell onto his floor. 

He scrambled up and grabbed the book. Immediately he felt the itch at the back of his mind that came when looking at the stupid book. All it had done was cause some very strange strange memories to resurface and a lot of weird feelings. Now, the itch was throbbing, like a headache. He grimaced and opened the book. 

He flipped past the title page and came to the first chapter.

Soon he was engrossed back into the book. His phone ringing dragged him back to reality. It was his dad asking which restaurant he was picking dinner up from. 

After Stiles hung up he looked at his desk, which had his unfinished homework on it, and back at the book.

A voice that sounded a lot like Lydia’s told him to do his homework and read later. 

He groaned and tossed the book. 

That night, his father was quiet through the meal. So was Stiles. His dad’s eyes kept wandering off and unfocusing. 

“Ok what is it?” Stiles finally asked.  
“Hmm?”  
“You have been really quiet this whole time.” Stiles said.  
“I could argue that you have been unusually quiet as well.” Stilinski pointed out.  
“Yeah, only because you have been.” He argued.

Definitely not any other reason.

The sheriff sighed.

“Fine, it was a long day.” That was his usual excuse when he was quiet.  
“Nope, that isn’t it.” Stiles narrowed his eyes.  
“Excuse me? I don’t need to explain myself to my SON.” His father said exasperatedly.  
“Fine, but I’ll just keep asking you.” Stiles replied.

Noah groaned and took another bite of food.

Stiles continued to stare at him until finally he broke.

“Fine, I’m just, thinking about last night.”  
“You and everyone else.” Stiles mumbled.  
“You do realize… never mind.” the sheriff started out strong but lost faith halfway through.  
“What? Do I realize what?” Stiles pressed, now intrigued.

His father gave him a look before dropping his gaze.

“You realize, that I wouldn’t hurt any of your friends, unless I had no other choice, right?”

Stiles opened his mouth before pausing. Where was this coming from? Then he remembered.

“When you shot at Scott, last night.”

The sheriff nodded and didn’t lift his eyes.

“It's just, he was standing there, covered in blood with Theo. I-It just…”  
“It didn’t look like him.” Stiles finished.

Stilinski nodded again.

“Look dad, if you thought it was the right thing to hit him, he would forgive you. I mean look at Argent. And it’s not like it would do much, he’d heal in like three seconds.” Stiles mumbled the last part.  
“Would you be able to forgive me?” Now his father raised his eyes to meet Stiles’.

Stiles’ mouth dropped again. That is what had been bothering his father.

He struggled to answer. How would he feel if his father had shot his best friend. His crush. The two people he loved most in the world. 

“Yes. I would have.” Stiles finally said after a moment.

Noah nodded and let out a breath that he hadn’t realized that he had been holding. He knew that Stiles cared deeply for his friend. That’s what had worried him. He did not want to hurt his son or his friends in any way.

The rest of dinner was much easier to get through.  
-  
Stiles woke shaking. 

And he had no werewolf to cuddle him to warm him up this time.

This dream he remembered. It was one that had been haunting him ever since the Nogitsune. He remembered being trapped in a cage of his own mind, with no way to escape. 

Stiles remembered hurting the people he cared about and savoring it. He remembers every sick thing the Fox did while wearing his face. Every life he ruined, every drop of blood on his hands.

He staggered out of bed and just made it to the bathroom in time to throw up. He leaned his head on the cool seat and sat there shaking. Finally he recovered enough to stand up and splash water on his face. He didn’t look in the mirror, afraid of what he might see. He slowly made his way back to his room but nearly fell back over when he slid on the book. He glared down at it. Somehow, he knew that that dream had been related to the book. 

He picked it up and sat back down heavily on his bed. Stiles flicked his lamp on and examined the cover. 

_“The cover triggers the memory sensors in the brain.”_

That’s what Valak had told him and Lydia in Eichen.

That was the itch. You had to read to get the full story. He scrunched his eyes shut before returning to his place and reading. He remembered when they pulled an all-nighter at Scott’s to read the book. Back when they believed Theo was there to help them. 

“Little lying bastard.” Stiles muttered as he continued reading. 

He didn’t know how long he read before he suddenly spaced out. 

He gasped as a vision of the tunnel filled his head. Only in this memory, it was raining. 

It hadn’t been raining before.

He lunged out of bed, grabbed his sweatshirt and keys before quietly running down the stairs. The cool night air caused his breath to billow out in a white cloud. As quietly as he could, he started up the jeep and as soon as he was far enough away from his house, he slammed on the gas. There was no one out at this time of night so he didn’t worry about T-Boning someone. 

Finally he screeched to a halt in front of the tunnel. He had not let go of the book the whole journey and now he brought it out in front of him. 

A familiar buzzing filled his ears. He wanted to turn around and search for the people that usually accompanied the sound but he forced himself to start reading again. He gritted his teeth against the cold but didn’t stop.

He needed to know what had happened here with him.

Abruptly his vision swirled and it was now raining again. 

He was being dragged by two people, they were approaching the tunnel slowly from behind where his jeep was currently parked. 

Weakly he kicked out. He felt like he was drugged.

When he blinked he was suddenly in the tunnels, Stiles watched dazedly as rooms swam by. Next thing he knew he was lying on a cold table. The smell of chemicals and death was strong in the air. 

One of the doctors came into his view. It was the lead one, the one that carried the cane, sword thing. The second doctor came up beside him and wiped an area on his neck clear. Lastly the third one came into view, carrying the largest syringe that Stiles had ever seen. He handed it to the lead doctor. 

Stiles’ eyes widened slightly as he realized what was about to happen. He tried to move but his limbs weighed 1000 pounds each. 

The doctor lowered the needle to his neck. Stiles moaned in fear as it entered his neck. He surged up and struggled before falling back down, his energy spent. He felt the substance enter his body slowly and excruciatingly. 

Finally the needle was removed and he let out a breath. The doctors stepped back, satisfied.  
One grabbed him and hauled him up before dragging him back through the tunnels. 

Stiles gasped back to the present. The tunnel yawned in front of him, yellow light filtering out. His hand immediately flew to his neck, where he had been stuck. There was no hole, or bump or anything. 

So the Dread Doctors had done something to him. The memory had never surfaced before. 

Until he stood here last night. 

Suddenly he dropped to his knees, his head felt like it was ready to crack open. He screamed as the pain intensified. Just as soon as it was there, it faded. Stiles lay there, gasping for breath, waiting for it to come back. It didn’t, but a new feeling had taken up residency in his mind. 

_“Hello Stiles.”_ It whispered.  
“No.” He sobbed.  
_“Yes.”_ The dark fox hissed.  
“Get out of my head.” Stiles snarled.  
_“Oh Stiles…”_ The Nogitsune purred. _“I never left.”_  
“No, you're dead.” Stiles said, his voice hushed.  
_“Not anymore. The doctors were able to resurrect me.”_ It laughed. _“There was just enough left inside of you, for it to take root.”_  
“No that's not possible. You were gone, we were separate.” Stiles argued after a moment, his hands were wrapped around his head.  
_“When something is touched, with this kind of power, it leaves a lasting mark.”_ It’s voice twisted around his head.  
“No, no, no please.” Stiles begged, not knowing what for.  
_“You can lie to yourself and you can lie to others.”_ The fox murmured. _“But you can’t lie to me. You loved the power, you loved being, invincible. Poor weak human Stiles, suddenly had people looking at him with respect.”_  
“No, they looked in fear.” He whispered, staring at the ground in front of him.

Tears were starting to swim in his eyes.

 _“Fear and respect, the same thing. You loved the chaos.”_ The voice let the words loved and chaos roll out longer.

Stiles was shaking violently now.

“I won’t let you hurt anybody. I won’t let you in.” He growled. “So go back to whatever hell you were staying before.”  
_“Oh Stiles…”_ The Nogitsune purred. _“I’m already in.”_

Stiles gasped before a sudden violent strength ripped through his mind. He cried out but no sound escaped. He was thrown back before tumbling into the dark depths of his own mind. 

Then all was quiet. 

A man came walking cautiously out of the tunnel. He had heard shouts and decided to investigate. In the entrance there was a teenage boy who was slowly standing up from the ground.

“Hey, you ok kid?” the man called out.

The boy turned towards the voice.

“Yeah, I-I’m fine.”  
“K, now what the hell are ya doing out here at this time of night.” The worker asked.  
“I was… on a drive, and thought I saw someone down here.” He glanced around. “I-I guess not.”

The man noticed that his teeth were chattering.

“Well if I was you, I’d get home, it's not good to be out in the cold dressed like that.” The man pointed to the boys PJs.  
“Oh uh.” The teen looked down at himself. “Yeah, I think I will.”

The man nodded and watched the boy climb back into his jeep before driving away.

Stiles cranked the heater up as far as it would go. His hands were still shaking from the whole ordeal. He came to a stop at a red light. 

Stiles reached over and grabbed The Dread Doctors. He stared at the cover before setting back down on the seat and sighing. 

He looked into his mirror. There was a smudge of dirt on his cheek from laying on the ground.  
His face hadn’t changed much though.

He watched his irises suddenly flash black. 

Not just shadowy dark, pitch black. Like a void.

The fox smiled as the light turned green.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Deep inhale* I LIVE FOR WEREWOLF CUDDLES AND WE DESERVED TO SEE THEM IN THE SHOW AND PEOPLE NEED TO WRITE ABOUT THEM MORE. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.  
> Anywayssssssss, so um Nogi is back I think. :l  
> Thank you for reading and feel free to leave kudos or comments!


	6. No rest for the damned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at Scott's psychology, issa nota good.

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--

Scott could feel the uneasy in his bones. The pack had been shaken by Theo’s return. They all seemed to find ways to keep busy. Everyone but him. 

Scott found himself pacing more often than not. He was trying to wrangle all kinds of different feelings. None of which he was able to escape 

He would catch his reflection in his mirror and see red, then he’d look back again and nothing was wrong. Anchoring on himself had fallen short. He was almost 100% sure that Stiles was his new anchor.

Everyone seems to think that he was overreacting with the whole almost killing Theo incident. But they weren’t stuck with this feeling. This feeling that something had crawled out of the darkest region of his soul and had taken up root in the back of his mind. The worst part wasn’t that he had never felt this kind of thing before, it was that he had felt it before. It lurked around his dreams, his waking thoughts, everytime he shifted, everytime he fought. It yearned for the release of power.

Scott ran his hands through his hair and took in a deep breath. He was standing in his room.  
This is my room. My name is Scott McCall. I am a werewolf. I am in control. I am not a monster. 

He found himself whispering that to himself often now. It was just a reminder. 

The only thing that seemed normal was school. 

Liam was having Mason watch out for Corey. Theo didn’t seem to express any interest in Corey but they would rather be safe than sorry. 

Hayden was doing better. Reconnecting with her friends seemed to help her. 

Stiles was, well Stiles. He walked into class each day with mused hair, happy brown eyes, and Scott just wanted to stand up and kiss him.

Instead, he focused on his work. He decided that he needed to put distance between them. He did not want to, but he felt that it was necessary.

That and he did not want to endanger his friend. Until he could get a handle on his own emotional state, the safest place for Stiles was away from him.

School was a great way to keep his mind off of things he didn’t want to think about. So he threw himself into his studies. Lydia had picked up on it immediately.

“Are you ok Scott?” She asked.  
“Yeah, why?”  
“Well it’s just, you seem to be a lot more focused on school. More than usual.”  
“I’ve been needing to get my grades up. I want to go to college after I graduate. And things seem to be in a lull right now.” He explained.  
“Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

He ducked away from her gaze and sat down in econ. Stiles plopped down next him. 

“Lydia been on your case more than usual as well?” He asked.  
“Yeah.”  
“She was grinding me a new one because I was up studying last night.” He shook his head.  
“Why does she care about that?” Scott asked.  
“Cause I didn’t get the required amount of hours of sleep.” Stiles complained.  
“Hmm.”

Stiles watched Scott. He had seemed distant as of recent. It had started to happen a little before the Theo incident, but now it was beginning to feel like a widening hole. Whenever he asked Scott if he wanted to hang out, he always had the excuse that he had work or homework. Stiles was beginning to think that it wasn’t just what had happened with Theo. He seemed fine with the others in the group. It was just him that he was pushing away from.

Was it because of the cuddling thing? Was he embarrassed? Did that mean anything?

He did not know how to stop Scott from drifting away. It hurt. He wanted to be near him. He wanted to help him with what he was going through. He just didn’t know how.

Everyone seemed to be taken care of in his pack, once again leaving Scott to his own thoughts.

He twisted around in his bed, trying to get comfortable. Something felt like it was crawling around in his skin. He clawed at his arm but nothing happened. A presence slithered around his mind, making him freeze. It circled, banging on the confines. It brought the smell of blood and death. Scott took a deep inhale.

It stalked back to the recesses of his mind.

He sat up and rubbed his face. 

Something was wrong with him. He knew it but didn’t want to voice it. He looked down at his hand. He blinked and it was covered in blood. He blinked again and it was spotless. He turned it over. Flicked his claws out. Stared at them. He rubbed the blood on his fingertips. Scott sighed and flicked his claws back in. His hands were clean. 

My name is Scott McCall. I am a werewolf. I am in control. I am not a monster.

He took a deep breath, one that didn’t smell of blood. 

He could hear his mother’s heartbeat down the hall. He could hear the neighbors heartbeat next door. He could hear the snores of the next neighbor over. He could hear a pair of cats across the street eating kibble. 

Maybe I should get some earplugs. He thought.

He stood up and walked to his bathroom. He glared at the mirror. He let his eyes light up.  
Ever since he had lost his abilities for a while after Theo killed him, he had picked up a habit of checking whenever he looked in a mirror. A new nervous tic.

Thinking of that night made him clench the sides of his sink. He hated that night. For many reasons.

Scott shut his eyes and tried to block out the incoming sounds of roars and fighting. Of claws ripping into his arms, his sides, his chest. He had undergone many injuries in the past few years, but none had seemed to hurt as much as these had. 

“You're scared.” came a voice from behind him.

His eyes snapped open and he looked at the mirror. 

Standing behind him was Theo. 

He turned and found an empty doorway. He looked back at the mirror and Theo was still smiling at him.

“You’re scared.” He repeated.  
“Of you?” Scott growled.  
“No.” Theo smiled and shook his head. “You’re scared of the power. Of hurting Stiles. Of losing. Of dying. Of your own beta.”

Scott closed his eyes and took in another breath.

“It’s ok to be scared Scott. You’d be pretty dumb not to be. You’ve seen hell in this town. You’ve lost pack members. You couldn’t save everyone.”  
“What do you want?”  
“I don’t want anything. I’m just here to assure you.”

Scott sighed.

“I am scared. Of a lot of things. I don’t want to lose anybody else. But I know that's pretty much impossible. People die, and people kill. There isn’t much I can do about it.”  
“Oh yes, the no killing rule. How many people have broken that?”

Scott growled low in his throat.

“Hmm let’s see. Malia, killed her own sister and mother. With the help of the desert wolf of course, and speaking of which, Malia also killed her. Kira, killed that chimera when her fox was taking over. Lydia, killed Dr. Varach with her voice. And finally...Stiles.” 

Scott watched the smirk spread across the boy's face.

“Well without the help of the Nogitsune, Donaven was an unfortunate accident.”  
“Donaven died by a pole through the heart, not Stiles smashing his head in.” Scott snarled.  
“He doesn’t feel that way. Anyways, the Nogitsune did a real number. Plenty of deaths, quite a few directly by his hand. Or well, technically Stiles’ hand.”

Scott clenched his teeth.

He had to bring Stiles into this conversation didn’t he.

Theo took a step closer to Scott. 

“Your righteous pack is full of killers Scott.”  
“And you're no better?”  
“No, I’m not.”

Scott slowly clenched and unclenched his hands. 

“That night haunts you because it opened your eyes to the fact that anybody can be corrupted. All that hard work with your beta, all thrown out the window. Liam gave in and grew more powerful. Powerful enough to kill you even.”

Theo leaned over his shoulder.

“It scared you because you’re afraid it’ll happen to you.” He whispered in his ear.

Scott shivered.  
“I’m always afraid of that.” He whispered back.

“You're afraid of your own power. Afraid of hurting someone. Afraid of killing someone. Your power is unique, it was earned, not given or taken. But you're afraid to use it. And you're afraid to have it taken from you. But mostly,” Theo chuckled.  
“You’re scared that Stiles will be afraid of you. That he won’t love you. That he will never love you. That he’ll push you away. Well you're actually already doing a good job of that on your own.”

Scott whirled with his claws and slashed down on Theo. His claws met open air. He looked back at the mirror and saw blood splattered across his face. 

You don’t have to be afraid. 

Scott froze as his fingers brushed his face.

You're stronger than everybody else. You won’t have to bend to anybody. You can have anything you desire. In time, they will learn to fear you.  
-

Malia had been watching the boys much closer now. She had been getting mixed signals from both of them, literally.

It had been distracting enough that she had gone to Derek for another lesson on kimo signals.  
Back at school she had gotten a much better read. She sensed anxiety, fear, sadness, but also desire. Coming from both of them.

She had almost laughed out loud when she realized it.

_Oh my god, they like each other._

Neither of them knew that the other liked them as well. 

She could barely contain herself. She went and found Lydia.

“I figured out what’s up with Scott and Stiles.” She declared.

Lydia looked at her in confusion.

“They like each other. Like, like like each other. But neither knows the other also likes them.”

Lydia opened and closed her mouth.

“Are you sure?”  
“Positive.”

Lydia shook her head as she considered it. 

“But wouldn’t have Scott picked up on it if Stiles liked him?”  
“Unless he didn’t think it was for him. I mean they’ve been around each other this whole time, maybe Scott just never noticed a difference.”

Lydia leaned against her locker as she thought.

“So what are you going to do?” Malia asked.  
“What do you mean what am I going to do?”  
“I mean, we know they like each other. We have to get them to figure it out. They're hopeless and it’ll be very painful to watch if we don’t.”

Lydia pursed her lips as she thought. Malia did have a point.

“Fine. You’re right.”

Malia watched as the wheels in the banshee’s head started turning.

“You already have a plan don’t you.”

Lydia nodded and a smile spread across her face.

“Yeah, I do.”  
-  
He walked to class in a daze. Scott didn’t remember much from the night before, other than he was sure he had hallucinated. 

He looked up and spotted Stiles at his locker. His hair was mused but something seemed off. 

Scott watched him as he approached. He looked beautiful (as usual). When Scott got closer, he realized what had bugged him. The human was giving off no emotion. None at all. No anxiety, no happiness, no worry.

Stiles' eyes slowly came up to meet his. They were dark, hooded. Something flashed before disappearing. Stiles’ eyes glazed over before he blinked a few times, shook his head as if to clear it, blew air out of his mouth and pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

Scott stood stock still. 

The human gave off exasperation as he read whatever was on his phone. Scott slowly made his way to his locker and watched Stiles.

“Can you believe it? Our math teacher is giving us another pop quiz. This is the third one this month. This is ridiculous.” Stiles grumbled.

Scott was very confused. 

“Hey you good Scotty? You look like you saw a ghost.”  
“Yeah, I-I’m fine.” He replied.  
“Ok good because I don’t want to have to worry about you more than I have to.” Stiles slammed his locker shut, making Scott jump.

Stiles watched him. Scott swallowed before fumbling with his locker. 

“You sure you’re ok?” Concern colored the human’s voice.

Scott nodded and managed to paste a small smile on his face. Stiles chewed his lip and looked like he wanted to say something. Scott turned and focused on trying to unload his backpack.

Scott was sure he just saw the Nogitsune flash in his friend’s eyes, but that wasn’t possible. He had destroyed the fox. He had saved Stiles. There was no way it could be back, and Stiles hadn’t seemed to notice. He was hyper aware of Stiles watching him.

He did not notice when Liam came up beside them.

“Hey, are you alright?” Liam asked.  
“What? Yeah, I’m fine.” Scott repeated and shoved his English book into his locker. 

Liam glanced at Stiles, who had an equally confused look on his face. Liam could sense the enease and confusion coming off of Scott but he decided to not mention it. 

“Are you ready for our game tonight?” He asked instead.  
“Oh, yeah I am. I think the team is too.” Scott replied hesitantly.  
“I remember playing them when I was at my old school. They play pretty rough.” 

Scott tried to use Liam’s voice to drown out his own unease. Stiles gave the werewolves one last look before he took off towards his history class.

This was different from his other interactions with Scott. While worry looked cute on his face, borderline panic did not. He did not know what had riled Scott. He just hoped that it wasn’t anything major and that Liam would be able to calm him out. 

He would never say it, but he was a little envious in the easy bond that Scott and Liam had. Liam seemed to be able to reach Scott in a way that Stiles ever had been able too. Alpha and beta thing. 

He didn’t particularly want the bite, he had seen how much it had changed and challenged Scott, but he would like to have that easy bond with someone. Someone who you can always confide in. Of course Liam and Scott had been dealing with the rift that had some between them. 

Who knows, maybe Scott will come to him about it.

Scott, knew that something was up with Stiles, there was no doubt. Something was up with him, there was no doubt. Maybe he just needed to do a little digging and investigation.

Liam kept talking even though he knew Scott wasn’t listening. He was nervous for the game, last time he had played them, he had ended up with a mild concussion and a twisted ankle. They had tied, but it had been close. Later that night, a few team mates dragged him out of his house and threw balls at him, just like they had at the abandoned zoo. They blamed him for the close tie because he was a freshman on varsity and on first line.

He knew that nothing like that would happen tonight, but it was still a fear. He also still had the off feeling from Scott that had been present since the whole super moon incident. Working to get Hayden settled had allowed them to get closer again, but Liam didn’t know if things would be the same. 

After school, he made his way to the locker rooms where everyone was a tense ball of excitement. Boys were tossing balls and gear around, spraying each other with deodorant and starting chants. 

Scott couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Stiles, it was as if he expected him to sprout another head. Liam focused on his gear. 

They marched out to the field in a large yelling group. Beacon Hills hadn’t beat this team in two years. They were determined to break the streak. 

Mason came up on his left side.

“Excited for the game?” He asked, watching the team.  
“Sure.” He replied.  
“You’ll do great! You have some good players and you’re a werewolf. I think you’re set.”  
Mason assured him.  
“Yeah, I’m set. I’m good. I am totally ready for this.” Liam nodded as he watched the team.  
“That’s the spirit. Corey and I and Hayden are up in the stands cheering for you!” Liam  
nodded gratefully before marching on.

They warmed up as the other team arrived and the stands started to fill up. Before the game started Hayden came down and offered her encouragement. 

“You know, there is this new ice cream place downtown.” She smiled at him.  
“Think the star player could take me there?”  
“I’m not really the star playe- like on a date?” He asked.  
“Of course dog brain.” Hayden said exasperatedly.  
“Well in that case, maybe we can have a good date tonight.” Liam laughed.

Hayden smiled and kissed him. 

The game began. 

By half time they were leading 5-3. Everyone was in high spirits, none more so than coach.

“It’s like someone killed you all and replaced you with actual lacrosse players!” He told them.

They won 8-7.

The team was vibrating with adrenaline and glee. 

Liam quickly changed and avoided getting whipped with a towel before racing out to meet Hayden. 

Stiles watched Liam sprint from the locker room and rolled his eyes.

“I hope I am never like that.” He mumbled and turned back to his locker. 

He was very aware of Scott stripping off his shirt and pads. He couldn’t help but slip glances at the werewolf. God he was hot. That wasn’t just a werewolf thing. It was also a Scott thing.

Scott stripped his pads off and hung them in his locker. He hadn’t been able to focus on the game. His mind was in turmoil. 

The fox could not be back. It was almost impossible. And if he was, that would be bad. Very bad. It had been bad the first time around. It had been horrible. It had left scars that couldn’t be removed, and sometimes couldn’t be hidden.

“Is something wrong?” Stiles turned and asked.

Scott jumped.

“What? No. Why?”  
“Because you have been acting weird all day. And I feel like everytime I look over, you're staring at me. Werewolf or not, it's very unsettling.” Stiles snapped.  
“Sorry, sorry. Just a, uh, a lot on my mind.” Scott replied and forced his gaze back to his locker.  
“Uh hu.” Stiles narrowed his eyes before returning to his locker.

They changed in silence for a while.

“Is something up with you?” Scott dared to ask.  
“Um no. Not that I know of.” Stiles responded. “Why?”

He decided to not mention the strange lapses in memory that were becoming frequent. 

“I don’t know. Just thought I’d ask. We’ve all been kinda on edge for a while now.”  
“Yeah I wanted to talk to you about that.”

Scott looked at him anxiously.

“W-what do you mean?”  
“I don’t know dude! It just seems like you have been distant recently.” Scott opened and closed his mouth but Stiles barreled on.  
“I know that the whole Theo thing really shook you up and shook the pack up, but I am here for you and I want to help you. We have been together through thick and thin. I don’t want to grow distant from you because I really care about you and I just don’t want you to be alone.”

Scott stared at him wide eyed. 

That was definitely not something that a Nogitsune would say. That was a 100% Stiles sentence. 

Then he processed what he had said.

“I-I know that you are here for me. And I am really lucky to have you as my friend. I wouldn't ask for anybody better.” Scott said with all the sincerity in his heart.

He tried to stamp down on the blush that was creeping up his neck as he spoke. 

“But you’re right, The whole Theo thing, kinda… set me back. Something has changed and I don’t know what it is. I don’t want you to get caught in it and get hurt.”

Stiles watched him before a smile broke across his face. God Stiles was good looking. 

“Has that ever stopped us before?”

Scott snorted, then let himself laugh. 

“No I don’t think it has.”

They walked out to the parking lot together. 

Ok. Maybe he didn’t need to panic. Maybe the strange occurrence at the lockers had been just that. Also, maybe he shouldn’t try to block his friend out… no. He still needed to keep some distance. But he didn’t need to completely shut him out. He had overcome impossible situations before, surely he could deal with being in love with the internal problems he was having, the anxiety he was working with and-

In love?

Scott paused for a second.

Was he in love?

He had been crushing on Stiles for a while now, there isn’t much he wouldn’t do for him, and he felt the deep constant need to be around him. Not to mention the fact that he wanted to kiss him, like, all the time.

Ok, maybe he was.

Stiles clambered into his jeep and Scott climbed onto his bike. Scott waved and took off towards his house. Stiles slowly pulled out of the parking lot. 

He felt a 10,000,000 times better knowing that he had talked to Scott, and that they had seemed to reach a mutual understanding. He used to know much of what went on in Scott’s head, now he wasn’t as sure. They had changed a lot in a short amount of time. Even so, they had always had each other. 

Well, mostly.

He was stopped at a red light when his vision blurred and his head grew fuzzy. Stiles fought to stay focused on the road. A sharp pain in his skull caused him to cry out and let go of the wheel. 

“Out.” A voice whispered in his mind.

Everything went dark for the human.

The fox blinked at the street in front of it. 

It pressed on the gas when the light changed and turned on to a different road. Its destination was in the abandoned warehouses east of town. 

It was very predictable that the human’s thoughts would be about the werewolf. It knew how much the human cared for him. The only thing that had seemed to change, was the werewolf now shared the feelings. Of course the stupid human had no idea and the dumb dog had no idea. That’s why it had taken so much pleasure for tormenting him.

It pulled the jeep into the dark parking lot and climbed out. The fox walked to the back and grabbed its bag. Inside there were various tools, keys, and a few blueprints.  
The fox walked into the building and was met with the damp scent of decay. It walked to one of the side rooms and turned the lights on. They flickered but didn’t die. It set the bag down next to a table in the center of the room. 

The fox looked around disdainfully at its work space. The place was sad really, it was a powerful spirit of chaos and strife… and these were its circumstances. It had liked the Japanese mafia boss better. More tools, more people, more power. 

Even so, its plan was in motion already. The slip at school had been small, but enough to distress the alpha immensely. It had enjoyed feeding all day long. It had been weakened from what the Dread Doctors had done to it. It could only take hold of the human’s mind for short periods of time right now. 

But its strength would return. 

Jikan.

It had time. It had lots and lots of time. 

Chaos was coming again, and this time. Nothing would be able to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene of Scott looking at is claws is inspired by the scene in season 2 episode 11 when Stiles is talking about drowning and we see Jackson looking at his bloody hands.
> 
> Finally someone is going to help these two because they are helpless. 
> 
> Scott would definitely isolate himself from his pack and family if he thought he was going to be a danger to them :(
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Peter, Sheriff and Stiles?, concerned Scott.

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--

Derek paced.

Peter watched annoyed from his couch. He was sure that if Derek kept this up he would wear a track on the floor. At least they weren’t at his apartment.

Derek turned and stalked back up the floor in front of Peter.

“Ok, what is it? The whole time I have been here you have just been pacing back and forth and I am not going to lie, my time can be better spent elsewhere.” Peter said exasperatedly. 

Derek grimaced, as if remembering he was there as well.

“Something just… doesn’t seem right.” He responded.  
“You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.” Peter emphasized the ‘bit’.  
“Theo. Why come back now? Why not come back earlier or later? It wasn’t a full moon, it wasn’t anything special.” Derek shook his head and started pacing again.

“Maybe he just finally got around to doing it.” Peter replied.  
“That’s what I thought. But he said that he was ‘trying to protect her’ whatever the hell that means.”

Peter sighed. Malia and Lydia had said the same thing. Peter thought back to the conversation he had shared with the boy. Theo had claimed that he was back for his beta and that he planned to be out of Beacon Hills before things got ugly. Peter had simply tacked it up to the hellstorm of the McCall pack trying to track down their missing member.

“You know something.” Derek said, glaring at Peter.  
“I don’t know anything about that kid besides the fact that he’s crazy.” Peter replied icely.

Derek advanced on the older wolf.

“Ok, ok. When he came to my place, he said that he wanted to get out of Beacon Hills before, and I quote, ‘things get ugly’.” 

Derek stopped and chewed his cheek. 

“What the hell does that mean?”  
“What do you think I am, I psychic? I would very much like to know as well so I know which direction to run.” Peter snapped.

Derek growled and started pacing again. 

“There was also the thing he said to Stiles.”  
“What did he say to Stiles?” Peter asked, disinterested.  
“He asked why he was still with them.” Derek answered.  
“Why Stiles was still with the pack? How hard did he hit his head?” Peter asked.  
“Hard. But still, the pack had rejoined, long before they beat Theo.” Derek sighed. “Some things just aren’t adding up with that kid.”  
“Then why are you wasting your time?” Peter let his head fall back onto the couch.

Derek turned to watch his uncle again.

“You don’t feel it?”

Peter lifted his head back up.

“Feel what?”  
“The shift, in energy. It happened a few weeks ago. I don’t know what it is, but it feels different. Off in a way. Like maybe something is changing or coming.”

Peter had not picked up on any kind of shift. But he was still recovering from Eichen House. He knew, however, what Derek was talking about. 

“Then maybe Theo was on to something.” Peter mumbled.  
“There’s nothing we can do about it, is there.” Derek stated more than asked.  
“Nope. Well, not when we don’t know anything about it. Just pray to whatever god still looks at us and hang on.” Peter stood up.  
“Do you think it has to do with Theo returning?” Derek asked.

Peter paused from his exit.

“I think it IS the reason for his return. If you manage to figure out the why, you can maybe figure out the how to stop it.”  
-  
The sheriff leaned back in his chair and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes.  
He had been reading over a multitude of old cases and newer animal attacks/ strange occurrences, just checking for any connections.

When he hit a lull at work, he always pulled out the boxes and looked through them. A few had led to solved or just finally closing a case. 

Jordan had helped him on a number of them. It was handy having a hellhound around. When he couldn’t call in Scott to track a scent, he would ask Parrish. The deputy had gotten a much better handle on his powers, with help from McCall’s pack and Derek.

God, when had he started thinking of Stiles’ friend group as a pack? He must have heard it said enough. 

Jordan was currently out on patrol. Stiles was at school. So was Scott and their friends. Melissa McCall was at the hospital. He was pretty sure Derek was at his penthouse. Peter was at his apartment (he had gotten the address and all the information as soon as Stiles had told him that he was moving back). Argent and Gerard were MIA but Noah had stopped trying to keep tabs on the Argents a long time ago. Everyone was accounted for.

The sheriff sat forward and re-examined the papers in front of him. They were about a pair of siblings that had disappeared from school, during the day. They had been spotted at the supermarket a week later before never being spotted again. Noah had noted that they had reappeared briefly on a New Moon. There had been no deaths or other disappearances that whole month, which was a miracle in itself. A strange symbol had been found dug into the forest floor a few miles out in the Beacon Hills reserve, blood had been found and it had been identified to be one of the missing kids. He put it in “Probably Supernatural”.

He categorized it under “Probably Not Werewolf” or PNW though so anybody looking in would not be alarmed. 

The sheriff wanted very much to read the translated Beastiary so he could at least have a basic idea of what the hell kind of creatures were running around the world. He had a list of the ones he knew and what he knew about each one. Stiles had gone on and on when he had asked for a list and descriptions so he could take notes. After about 20 minutes, he had given up on trying to keep up with his son’s rapid change of topics and stories. He had asked Lydia and she had emailed him a full detailed list that she had compiled. 

He had the most information on werewolves. Which was understandable, but he still felt as if he knew nothing about them. 

He had grown up with the usual myths. Werewolves were regular people until a full moon came around then they went crazy and on a killing spree, the next morning they woke up and didn't remember a thing. Scott and Stiles had confirmed that it was, in a way, true. The full moon made it harder for werewolves to keep in control, when he had asked the boys about what had happened on Scott’s first full moon and Scott said he didn't remember much until he had been shot. But when he stayed in control, he remembered things fine. 

Scott was not what you thought of when you thought of werewolves. He had known Scott since he was young, very young. The kid was asthmatic, patient, and harmless. He kept up with his son, no small feat, and even had been the voice of reason a few times. Listening to Stiles try to explain to him the supernatural world, and that Scott was, in fact, a werewolf, it had been very hard to picture. He could see Derek, Peter, and even could see Issac, but not Scott. Then he saw Scott at the school, before he was taken, fangs, claws, hair on his face, glowing yellow eyes, and a roar that rattled the sheriff's chest. 

Learning the difference between the different werewolves had furthered his confusion. Betas, omegas and alphas. Each stronger than the last.

Werewolves were killing machines, terrifying, strong, and inhuman. He had not seen that in Scott, protectiveness yes, fierce yes, strong yes, killer, no. Until Theo.

Noah planted his elbows on his desk and let his head drop into his hands.

Scott had been seconds away from killing, and he knew it. Scott had always adopted the no kill rule. No matter what. It had kept his son alive when he had been possessed. It had kept many more alive and human. He didn’t lie, he had wondered if a day would come when Scott would get blood on his hands. It hadn’t seemed as likely until he saw the boy standing over the Chimera, claws prepared to drop, eyes burning completely red, face contorted to that of, well, a monster. 

He had raised his gun at a monster, a werewolf, not his son’s best friend, the kid that had been like family forever. 

He had not gotten much sleep lately, a habit he hoped he wasn’t picking up from Stiles. It was nightmares, more usual than he liked to admit. These are filled with his bullet not hitting the wall behind Scott’s head, but instead finding its way buried in the teens skulls. Most times his body dropped, lifeless, at his feet, a few times though, the monster in Scott’s place would turn and look at him. Sometimes he would advance on the sheriff, sometimes he would turn back and cleave the chimera’s face in half, and sometimes, he smiled. 

“Hey dad.” A bright voice entered his office. 

Noah looked up to see Stiles march in and plop down in one of the chairs. 

He glanced at the clock. It was 3:57.

“Hey, are you alright?” Stiles asked.  
“Yeah, I just lost track of time.” The sheriff replied, shuffling the papers around on his desk.  
“Whatcha lookin at?” Stiles asked as he fished something out of his bag.  
“Oh, just, some unsolved cases.”

Stiles looked up with concern. He had tried to get his dad to stop going back to the old cases. They stressed him out and made him stay in the office late, which led him to eating and sleeping less. 

“Oh don’t give me that look.” Noah waved his hand annoyed at his son. “I was just looking.”  
“Yeah ok.” Stiles rolled his eyes.  
“So what can I help you with, son?”  
“Well, I was wondering if you…” Stiles trailed off.

The sheriff looked up from his desk at his son. His eyes were unfocused and he looked almost like he was disassociating. 

“Stiles?” He asked, preparing to jump up for his son.

Stiles blinked and glanced around before refocusing on his dad.

“Are you alright?” The sheriff asked.  
“Yeah, I’m fine sorry.” Stiles replied.  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yeah, dad I’m fine.” Stiles assured him.

Noah narrowed his eyes at his son, trying to see any lingering effects.

“Anyways, I wanted to ask you if you still have the list of the different werewolf hunter families that Argent gave you.”

The sheriff’s wracked his brain for any list of hunters given to him by argent. Ah wait, he did remember being given a list.

“Yes actually. I do.”  
“That’s a first.” Stiles snarked as Noah started looking through his drawers.  
“Hey, don’t get me started on the number of things you have lost.” He snapped back.  
“Ok, ok, no need to bring that up.” Stiles held his hands up in defeat.

One thing about having a kid with ADHD, never expect to see anything that is in their hands one minute, to be in their hands the next.

He continued to dig until he found it. It was on a sheet of yellow lined paper. He handed it to Stiles who immediately started copying down the names and numbers.

“Why do you want it?” The sheriff asked.  
“Thought it might be good to have.” He responded without looking up. “If they ever come, it would be polite to know who is trying to kill us.”

The sheriff opened his mouth to reply before closing it again. He started putting papers back in boxes when shouts came from outside of the office.

Both Stilinskis looked up.

Noah charged to the door to find one deputy slam another down onto a desk.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH. YOU AND YOUR BASTARD OF A SON. I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!” The top deputy roared.

“Hey!” The sheriff charged forward to break up the fight.

The top deputy slammed his fist into the bottom one’s mouth and the bottom deputy bucked up. They rolled off the desk in a flurry of limbs. Finally Sheriff Stilinski was able to haul them apart.

“Now what THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?” He snarled at the deputies. 

The one that had been yelling spoke first.

“His son attacked my daughter and her friend! They were out at the movies and his son with his friends attacked them. Beat them unconscious and put them in the hospital!”  
“My son was home all last night!” Deputy Greg protested.  
“Yeah right, then why did Kenzie confirm his face?” He snarled at him.  
“Hey! You can’t just come in here and attack your fellow deputy! A face recognition is not nearly enough evidence to accuse him of anything.” Stilinksi snapped.  
“But it’s enough to arrest him.” Tom deputy argued.

Noah glared between the two. 

“Ok Tom, I will need your daughter and her friend to come in as well as your son, Greg.” He finally said.

The two deputies glared at each other but slowly nodded.

The sheriff made sure everyone got back to what they were supposed to be doing before returning to his office. The deputies whispered to each other, not really deciding who they were supporting in this matter.

“Do you believe him?” Stiles asked once he had closed his door.  
“I don’t know. I am not making any decisions until I see evidence.” He replied.

He sank back into his chair and Stiles sat as well.

“Was there anything else you needed?” Stilinksi asked.  
“Ummm.” He glanced back out the window and paused. 

A shiver seemed to pass through him and he turned back to his dad.

“Umm, yeah I wanted to ask you about this thing I was reading about at school.”

He shuffled around his back pack. 

Noah talked with his son for a while before he had to get back to actual work. He walked Stiles out through the station and watched him climb into his Jeep. It still amazed him that the thing still ran. All the stuff that Stiles had used it for and all the damage it had undergone.  
He stood out in the parking lot, letting a cool breeze blow over him. His whole life seemed to have turned around in the last few years. A lot more things to worry about. A lot more answers yet even more mysteries. All he wanted was to see his son graduate High School and go to college, preferably far from here. Get a job, hell maybe start a family. He did want a few grandkids to spoil.

He scrubbed a hand across his face and headed back inside the station.  
-  
Scott deducted that he needed to get to the bottom of the mystery about what he had seen. It had been at the forefront of his mind since parting with Stiles. Asking him out right had not gleaned any information. But last time the fox had played them for a whole day. He wasn’t going to let himself be blindsided by it again.

He rode over to the Stilinski house in time to see Stiles loading into his Jeep. He hung back before following at a safe distance. Stiles stopped at Deaton’s Vet clinic and ran something inside first. 

Next he went to the grocery store. Scott waited outside and watched for him to come back out. It took the human forever. 

Scott groaned as he waited. 

He wouldn’t be surprised if Stiles got sidetracked for a long period of time before looking back at his list and finishing his trip. One time he had stopped at the grocery store when Scott was with him. He had run inside, Scott had been beginning to worry when he came back with a bag of fresh baked pastries from the store across the lot from the grocery store, half an hour later. He had none of the items he had been after. 

“What?” He had asked as Scott stared at him in shock.

“I thought you had been, like, jumped or something! And where did the pastries come from?”  
“They came from, from Angelas.” He turned and pointed.  
“You didn’t even get the groceries your dad asked for.” 

Stiles' mouth dropped open as he prepared to speak, then he stopped, eyebrows scrunched, retaliation dawned.

“That’s what I was doing?!” 

Scott rolled his eyes and sighed before climbing out of the car. He grabbed Stiles’ shopping list and started towards the grocery store. Stiles scrambled after him. Just something that you had to get used to when you were friends with someone with ADHD. Looking back, Scott couldn’t help but think about how cute he was when he forgot to do something small.

Now Scott was relieved when Stiles made it out of the grocery store with his bags.  
He climbed into his Jeep and took off again. 

Stiles next stopped at the bank, then at the comic book store, then he drove back home. 

Scott dropped his head onto his clasped hands which were propped on his bike. He had just wasted at least 4 hours following Stiles with no luck.

It had provided a nice distraction at least.

He found it was easier to focus on other peoples problems and how he could help them, than focusing on his own problems.

After a few more minutes he took off back to his own house.

Stiles flipped through the new comic that he had picked up. A new batman edition. Once he was done he was going to give it to Scott, if it was good. 

He hadn’t really had much time in a while to settle down and read a good comic book. Too much crazy crap going on in his life. 

He stood up to get some food and noticed a sticky note on his desk.

_Stiles do laundry._

He groaned but picked up his full hamper.

One of his shirts caught his attention. It had dark stains on it. He inspected it closer. He smelled it suspiciously.

It smelled like a dumpster.

He definitely did not remember ever going through trash this week. The stains were crusted over but they looked suspiciously like blood. He had not been injured in a while.

Maybe I got a bloody nose? He thought.

He grabbed the stain remover and soaked his shirt with it before starting the laundry cycle. Tomorrow would be a full moon. 

He always was on edge on full moons. 

He fell asleep that night reading the comic book and did not dream.  
-  
Liam started to feel it around lunch time. The pull of the moon. The desire to take off running rampant through the night. The thrill of being filled with power. The need to hunt something down and tear it apart.

He shook his head. 

All his senses were ampt up as it was. But full moons were now much easier than they had been. He hadn’t had a slip up in a while. Hayden was also growing accustomed to them. Lydia had invited them all to her lake house so they could spend the night in relative privacy. 

“You ok?” Scott asked him.  
“Yeah. I’m good.” He answered.  
“That’s good because I don’t want to try to make up any new stories to the police department.” Stiles sighed. “I’m running out of stories.”  
“Ok so you guys are going there at like 4:30?” Lydia asked.  
“Yes, are you sure we don’t need to bring anything?” Scott asked.  
“I’ve got everything covered.” Lydia said with a mischievous smile.

Liam pulled through the day with no incident. He and Scott were going to skip practice as well.  
Finally he stumbled out of his last class and Hayden soon joined him on the way to her car.  
Mason and Corey jogged up to meet them. 

“Where are you guys going to go before Lydia’s?” Mason asked.  
“Probably just my house.” Hayden replied.  
“Ok, we’ll see you guys in a little while.” 

Scott and Stiles followed Lydia and Malia out to Lydia’s car.

“Do you want me to bring like any werewolfy restraints?” Stiles asked.  
“No. No chains, we are going to be fine.” Malia rolled her eyes.  
“Ok well we’ll see you in a little while.” Scott told them.

The girls nodded and shared another look.

Stiles scrunched his eyebrows as they took off.

“What do you think they are up to?”

Scott huffed out a breath.

“I have no idea, but they are way more responsible than the rest of us so probably nothing too bad.”

Being around Stiles right now just reminded him of the last full moon. He was nervous about spending it around him, he didn’t want a slip up. There was also the usual worry that he would lose control… it was even more prominent now that he was having problems with his own abilities. 

“You good?” Stiles asked him.

Scott nodded and swallowed.

Stiles watched Scott. He had been pretty quiet recently. The distance between them had lessened, but it was still there. Well maybe tonight he could glean some information from the werewolf.

Malia looked back at the two boys in the parking lot.

“Jesus they are helpless.”  
“I know.” Lydia shook her head.  
“You have everything right?”  
“Yep. I am going to work on Stiles, you have to work on Scott.”  
“Shouldn’t be too hard. I just don’t want to put Stiles in any danger, I mean it is a full moon.” Malia pointed out.

“Scott wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.” Lydia replied.  
“I don’t know, you don’t know what we feel on full moons. And didn’t Scott attack Stiles?”  
“As a beta, freshly turned. I’ve known Scott for a while, and I’ve seen him through a lot of full moons. He’s got the best control.” Lydia assured her.

She knew what she was saying was true. She wouldn’t be doing this if she thought anybody was in danger. 

Nope, she was trying to get her to friends to overcome themselves and end up together. The simple things in life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ngl, Malia and Lydia are acting a little suspicious...  
> This was a nice and calmer chapter, but we always need some calms before storms. Believe me, next chapter is going to be exciting >:)  
> Thank you for reading, feel free to leave kudos or comments!


	8. Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things seem to get a little **spicy** with this full moon chapter >:)

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--

Things were going smoothly. 

Everyone was in control and more or less in a calm mood. Corey hardly felt any effects of the Full Moon so he was also on watch duty for the were-creatures along with Lydia, Mason, and Stiles. 

They ate dinner and watched movies and even got in a few games of Uno before tensions ran too high. 

You could tell when the moon rose over the horizon because all of the were-creatures stiffened.

At 10 o’clock, Lydia and Malia started to make their move. 

Lydia pulled out multiple Mike’s Hard Lemonades. She offered them to Stiles and Mason, careful on which ones she gave to them. 

She had slipped in a little more alcohol than what was originally in the drinks, in just a few of them. She gave Mason and herself the undoctored, and gave Stiles the more doctored.

Lydia and Malia had debated long and hard on how they were going to do this. They knew that they would need to do it on a Full Moon because Scott would be more distracted. Malia had been the one to say that they should get Stiles drunk. Lydia had tried to think of a better option, but when he did drink (which wasn’t often), he did get more flirty and loose tongued. 

They weren’t trying to get him wasted or even that drunk, just enough that he might tell Scott how he felt. 

The night progressed. Lydia watched as Stiles drank his lemonade infuriatingly slow. It however did give Malia more time to work with Scott. 

Scott was rather confused when Malia attached herself to him and started talking to him about love interests. He had been keeping careful eye on everyone in the lake house, while also wrestling with his own control. It was proving harder to wrangle tonight than it had on previous full moons. 

He wouldn’t particularly say that he was struggling, but he was definitely having a difficult time. He had to step outside multiple times to catch his breath and get some quiet. 

He was hyper aware of Stiles presence throughout the night. He made sure to keep distance between himself and Stiles. He was definitely worried about slipping up tonight. There was a part of him that just wanted to go over to the human, declare his crush, and face rejection now, when he hopefully wouldn’t remember it as well. Part of him wanted to go kiss the human and part of him was struggling to keep the other two parts back. His attention was split ten ways.

Then all of a sudden Malia started distracting him. To make it worse, she kept talking about liking people and who she thought the hottest people on the lacrosse team were. She got to Stiles and immediately began to talk about him in a much more intimate way than Scott thought he could handle right now.

Finally, Lydia began to see the alcohol working its way into Stiles' system. Getting people intoxicated without them noticing was her specialty. While she did feel a little guilty, she hoped Stiles would forgive her later on. 

It was 2:30 when she finally suggested that Scott drive him home. 

Stiles’ speech had slowed considerably and he swayed a little on his feet. The younger teens were amused as he rattled on about a supernatural story. Mason was a little buzzed, but he was just leaned up against Corey and happy as could be. Lydia knew how to hold her alcohol better and had been careful with how much she drank. 

Scott had stayed on the edge of the conversation, he would switch between watching the group or staring at the wall distractedly. 

Lydia had asked him earlier if he was doing good and he had nodded. He didn’t look as good as he usually did on Full Moons, but her plan was already in action. Scott was looking anywhere but Stiles.

She nodded to Malia who had also been watching the boys and made her way over to the Alpha.

“Hey Scott.” She said and sat next to him.  
“Hey.” They watched the younger kids as they laughed at something Stiles had said.

“Thank you Lydia for doing this. I know the last time we were here on a full moon we kinda wrecked the boat house and a bunch of Freshman showed up.” Scott told her.

She rolled her eyes at the memory.

“Yeah, well I’m happy I could offer this place to you guys.”

He nodded.

Mason was now trying to argue with Stiles about Berserkers and Stiles was waving his hands around exasperatedly as he spoke.

“I think I may have over served Stiles.” Lydia watched for Scott’s reaction.

Scott had sensed Stiles intoxication levels slowly rise. He sighed.

“Do you think you could take him home?”

Scott turned wide eyes towards the banshee. 

“Uhh…”

Lydia was struggling to hold back laughter as she took in Scott’s face. 

“I just think it might be good to get him home soon is all. I want to stay and make sure they don’t break anything.”

Scott opened and closed his mouth. 

“I can ask Corey or Malia to do it if you need me to.” Lydia pushed a little more.  
“No, no it’s fine. I-I’ll take him.”

Lydia had to suppress a large grin.

“Ok great!”

It took a lot of coxing to get Stiles out to his Jeep and into his passenger seat. 

“I’m fine, feel fine. I’m not done talkin to Mason n them about the bersers, berserks, berserker.” Stiles slurred his words as he protested.

“Nope they understand. Time for you to go home and go to sleep.” Lydia told him as she led him towards his car where Scott was loading his bike into the back.

“Sleep? Sleep! Issa full moon, you dun sleep ona full moon when yer best frens a stinking werewolf!” He cried and threw his arm around her neck for balance.  
“Shhh, Stiles we are right here.” Lydia told him.

He swung his neck to look at Scott.

“Sorry Scotty you dun actually stink.” 

Stiles finally relented and clambered into his passenger seat.

“Ok but call me if anything happens and I’ll come back.” He told her.  
“We’ll call you if anything happens.” She assured him as Scott started the Jeep up.

Stiles waved as they pulled out of the driveway. 

Malia came up beside Lydia and waved as they drove away.

Once they were out of sight, they bumped fists.  
-  
Scott was gripping the steering wheel like it was a life line. The smell of alcohol and Stiles own scent were making it very hard for Scott to concentrate. 

Just focus on the road. Just focus on the road. Just focus on the-

“You good bro?”  
Scott did not look over but he knew that Stiles was staring at him.

“Yeah.”  
“Ya look very tense.”

Scott nodded a little.

“Full moon?”

Scott nodded again.

Stiles looked back out the window.

He was trying to keep his eyes off of the werewolf. He had been struggling with that all night. His gaze kept sliding to the alpha, all through his storytelling, he had kept glancing over to see if Scott’s attention was on him. He had only seen him watching him back twice.

This was not the first time Stiles had been intoxicated in front of Scott. Actually it was not even the second time. The first time had been over the summer before sophomore year. They had gotten into his fathers liquor and had both taken shots of the hard alcohol before it hit them all at once. Stiles' father had come home to find them both very drunk.

They both had been royally punished for it. Of course that hadn’t stopped Stiles from stealing another bottle and trying to get Scott drunk after Allison had broken up with him. Of course by then alcohol had little to no effect on Scott.

Stiles was pretty surprised that he hadn’t confessed his crush to Scott that night. Instead he had talked about Lydia. Thank god. Lydia had saved his skin even before she had acknowledged his existence. 

The less he talked now, the better. However he couldn’t help but voice his concerns for his friend. Especially when he looked so uptight and tense. The barely contained a wild look did look very sexy on Scott McCall though.

No. No. Stop. Don’t think about that right now. Do not even go there. Nope. Nope. 

Scott slowly unclenched his hands from around the steering wheel. He did not want to dent it or accidentally break the top off or just rip it out of the dash all together.

Was it just him or did this drive seem to be going on forever. 

His senses were too messed up right now to get a good read on the human next to him. Which was probably a blessing. The moon flashed through the trees, it was probably, in some way, laughing at him. A risked a glance at Stiles and immediately regretted it. 

He had his arm propped on the window and his head resting in his hand as he looked out the window. The moon hit his face just right, illuminating his face in an ethereal way. 

Scott swallowed thickly and he quickly tore his eyes back to the road. 

Finally, after what felt like hours, did they pull into Stiles’ driveway.

He clicked the Jeep off and sat there for a few moments. Stiles watched Scott as he closed his eyes and just focused on breathing. What he would give to have to kiss the boy next to him.

Stiles turned away and opened his door. Scott followed suit and came around to make sure he didn’t fall on his face. Stiles reached out and steady his stance on Scott’s arm. The werewolf carefully led the human to the front of his house. The sheriff wasn’t home, he was at the station in case of any supernatural problems. 

Stiles fumbled with his keys as he leaned against the doorway. His fingers didn’t seem to want to work properly. He was trying to block out the presence of the werewolf behind him but was failing. The keys almost slipped out of his hands, causing him to lunge for them. He tipped forward but Scott steadied him. 

Stiles didn’t make eye contact as he nodded his thanks.

Scott carefully took the keys out of his hands and unlocked the door. 

He flicked on the lights as he stumbled inside. Scott carefully led him up to his room and sat him on his bed. Once he made sure Stiles was settled, he fled downstairs to get him a glass of water.

He hadn’t been back at the Stilinski’s house since the Theo incident. When he had woken up and he had been cuddling Stiles. 

He braced himself on the counter. 

Just get him water, make sure he gets in bed, then you can leave. A simple task. 

He filled up a large glass and made his way back upstairs. Stiles had kicked his shoes off and was sitting cross legged on his bed. Scott handed him the water and waited for him to drink it.

Stiles absently drank it. He was doing his best to ignore Scott’s presence. But then again, why should he?

Why didn’t he just come clean? It would make his life easier. He wouldn’t feel like he was hiding anything. Who knows, maybe even something good would come from it.

But he also feared rejection like the plague. He did not want to ruin his friendship. He didn’t want to be pushed away by Scott. Even though he already felt like he had been pushed away. Wait, why was Scott pushed him away? He only partially believed the story that Scott was trying to protect him. That had never been a problem in the past. 

Just ask him. What’s the problem? No I’m not going to ask. 

“Hey, um, why have you been distant lately?” He asked.

Scott’s gaze snapped up to Stiles.

“Um, just, uh everything that has been going on I guess?”

Stiles shook his head and shakily stood up

“BS. It's like you’ve been pushing us all away. I’ve noticed. You seem to be distancing yourself from m-us. We are your pack Scott’, we’re stronger together.” Now that he was going, he was finding it hard to stop and his voice was rising in volume. 

He found himself advancing on Scott, who was backing away wide eyed.

“I know the Theo thing was bad and that you may feel like a danger just like you did when you were first bitten, but you aren’t. You have amazing control and I think you are selling yourself short. We need you dude. And you need us, pulling away isn’t going to help anybody and I am here to help you. I need you around. I-we feel lost without you.”

Scott’s mouth opened and closed. He was trying to come up with an answer but the fact that Stiles felt like he needed him was making it hard to form coherent thoughts.

Stiles watched and waited for Scott’s excuse. 

Scott considered telling a half truth, something that would suffice. But he knew that it would not help him in the long run. If he couldn’t be honest with Stiles, then who could he go to?

“I know I need you guys. But the truth is, I am afraid. Just, ever since Theo, it's felt like something has been let loose in my mind. It’s like another presence or something. It's been there ever since I’ve been bitten. Derek says that all werewolves have it. It’s like the driving force of our power. We give in to it a little whenever we shift. I just have had this feeling, ever since Theo, that I’ve lost control of it. I feel like I’m going to snap at any moment and start trying to kill people and it's terrifying.” He sucked in a shaky breath. 

“That’s why I’ve pushed away. I don’t want to hurt any of you, I care about you too much. And I feel like I would try to target you guys specifically.”

Stiles’ eyes had widened.

“Because you think you’ll be like Deucalion?”

Scott nodded.

He had returned his gaze to the floor. 

Stiles had had no idea that this had been what was bugging his friend. 

“Scott, it sounds like you need us even more. We’re your support team. And I want to help you. You shouldn’t be trying to deal with your problems, especially when they are this distressing, by yourself.”

Stiles walked over and threw his arms around his friend in a sloppy hug.

Scott didn’t move as Stiles hung on him. This was not boding well for his struggle to not try to kiss or confess to the human. At least he didn’t suspect his other reason for distancing himself from Stiles.

“And for the record I feel like you greatly underestimate your own abilities. You're a good alpha and even better looking one.” Stiles assured him as he pulled away and made his way to the bathroom.

Scott’s heart stopped.

Did he just-  
Did Stiles just say that he looked good?

Stiles was still blissfully unaware as he walked back into his room and began to pull stuff out of his backpack.

“W-what are you doing?”

Stiles looked at him, as if remembering that he was there.

“I’m doing homework.”  
“What? Wait. No. You’re going to bed.” Scott remembered Lydia’s instruction.  
“But it’s only like 3:30.”  
“No, you're going to bed.” Scott said.

Scott huffed before walking over and hauling him up by the arm. He did want to get Stiles in bed. He needed rest and he needed to sleep off the alcohol.

_Get Stiles in bed huh?_

Wait that didn’t sound right. He didn’t want to get Stiles in bed like that. Damn the stupid full moon and weird werewolfness.

“No, it's a full moon. I’ve gotta stay up and make sure nobody dies.” Stiles complained.

“No one is going to die.” Scott mumbled.

Jeez, intoxicated Stiles was still as stubborn as sober Stiles. 

Stiles grunted and stumbled forward. 

Scott caught him before he could drop to the floor. Stiles leaned his chest into Scott’s shoulder as he reestablished his balance. He lifted his gaze to Scott’s. Both seemed to freeze as they stared at each other.

Stiles watched the wolf’s dark eyes. God he could get lost in them. Stiles had loved Scott’s eyes no matter what color they were. Dark brown, yellow, or red. 

The eyes he was staring at now, suddenly faded from brown to deep scarlet. 

Stiles' own eyes widened. That meant one of two things. Scott was very angry and about to shift. Or Scott’s control had slipped for quite the opposite reason.

Stiles’ breath caught in his throat. 

Scott was watching the human’s eyes when he noticed the obvious shift in the human. He then realized the red reflecting back at him in the human's eyes. For a second he thought that they were Stiles’ eyes glowing, before he realized that they were his own traitorous eyes.

Crap. Crap. Crappity crap crap. He had been so good about keeping under control this whole evening. 

Play it off. Pull back, get distance-

No. No. NO. Stiles do not do it. Don’t you dare. You are intoxicated and not thinking straight don’t do anything. He’s pulling away, just let him go it's probably noth-

Stiles' alcohol influenced mind pushed his body forward.

His lips came up and met the wolf’s.

And Scott thought that his heart had stopped earlier. His whole body seemed to freeze. He didn’t breath. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.

There was no way that Stiles was kissing him. No way in like, 100 years. 

Stiles' mind finally caught up to his body. His eyes widened. 

HOLY SHIT YOU DID NOT. NO. NO. NO. WHAT DID YOU DO I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO ANYTHING.

Stiles quickly recoiled.

Scott was left mouth agape, staring at Stiles.

“I-i-i’m sorry. I-i don’t know why I did that.” Stiles' whole face was burning as he quickly turned away from Scott. 

Scott finally unfroze.

He grabbed Stiles before he was out of his reach and pulled him back in.

“Mph!” Stiles gasped as Scott kissed him.

Scott’s hands came up and slid on either side of his face. Stiles grabbed his arms to keep himself standing. 

Good lord Scott tasted good. 

Scott advanced the kiss first and Stiles eagerly followed suit. Was there anything the McCall boy wasn’t good at? 

Stiles’ hand moved from Scott’s arm to slide into his hair.

How many times had he dreamed of doing this exact thing? It didn’t matter, this time was the best.

Stiles playfully bit Scott’s lip, causing the boy to gasp in pleasure. 

Stiles felt his teeth bang a little against fangs. 

_Ok, that was kinda hot, but proceed with caution Stiles._

Not that he was very concerned for his well being at the moment. The only thing that was in his mind right now was kissing Scott McCall.

Slowly Scott spun them around and was backing them up. His legs met the edge of Stiles bed and he slowly let himself fall back. Stiles followed him down. 

Scott slowly opened his eyes to see Stiles watching him hungrily. 

When Scott opened his eyes and looked at him, with those deep scarlet eyes, he thought he might faint. 

Stiles planted one hand on one side of Scott’s head and slid his hand under Scott’s head and Scott pulled him down to his lips. Scotts other hand traveled down his back, eliciting a groan from Stiles. His lips trailed down Scott’s jaw. 

Scott brandished his neck to him and he took all the liberties. 

Scott’s back arched on its own accord as Stiles made his way slowly to his collarbone.

Scott suddenly fell still.

Stiles paused in his movement. 

Scott was taking in measured breaths. Oh crap, that's right. It's a full moon. And Stiles was kissing him. That was probably not very good for Scott’s concentration.

But a part of Stiles loved that rush of adrenaline. That he had the power to cause Scott this kind of distraction. 

Scott slowly blinked his eyes back open. They were still glowing red.

“You ok?”  
“Hell yeah.” 

His lips were once again Stiles. He felt like he was as intoxicated as Stiles was at the moment. That was the only way to describe this feeling.

Scott let Stiles do all the movement. His control was just about at its limits. 

He had learned early on to not use his teeth. He had accidently drawn blood with Allison. He felt a little bad for Allison. He had to figure out his own strength with her, it led to a lot of bruises along her back and arms. But he had been a beta then. Being an Alpha was a whole new realm of danger. He hadn’t had to worry about his strength with Kira because she was a supernatural creature as well, he still had to be wary with his teeth though. 

Stiles was simply human. Scott would be damned if he accidently bit Stiles while he was kissing him. Especially because his fangs had slipped out against his will. He would also be damned if he gave Stiles unnecessary bruises. 

But Stiles seemed to know what we was doing, and he was amazing at his work. Now he knew what Malia was talking about. 

Stiles did not worry about leaving any marks behind on Scott’s flawless skin. Yet another perk of kissing a supernatural creature. He couldn’t help but feel like kissing Malia had prepared him for this moment. 

Finally, both panting, did they push apart. Both of the boy’s hair was standing up at strange angles. Both of their clothes were rumpled. Both of their hearts were racing.

“Please tell me this wasn’t a dream.” Stiles panted.  
“I don’t think it was.” Scott replied.

Scott rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 4:21.

He sighed. 

He rocked forward and stood up. He smelled like Stiles.

Oh no, what do I say. Your an amazing kisser? You like me too? I love really like you?

“I, uh, I think I should get… going.” He settled for.

Stiles stared up at him. His eyes had finally returned to dark brown. Next time, he wanted to look at dark brown eyes. He thought tiredly.

“M’kay.” Stiles mumbled.

He slowly sat up. 

“Here.” Scott handed Stiles the half empty cup of water.  
“Drink the rest of that and go to sleep.”  
“Kay.” Stiles yawned.

Scott watched him for a few moments before turning to leave.

“Hey Scott.” 

Scott turned back to Stiles.

“I really like you.” Stiles said.

Scott slowly nodded and a small smile slid onto his face.

“I really like you too.”

With that, he slipped out of Stiles’ room. 

He rode through the sleepy town. He needed to clear his head. He needed to process what had just happened.

He had just kissed Stiles Stilinski.

Stiles Stilinski had just kissed him.

And he said that he liked him.

He felt like he was high. He was high on the full moon. On the smell of Stiles. On the fact that he’d just done what he thought was impossible. 

He eventually found himself back at his house. He drunkenly stumbled up to his room. He took his clothes off and flopped onto his bed. Soon he was fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, fyi, I don't know how to write romantic or Spicy scenes, never had, never really thought I would... but let me tell you THIS WAS FUN. 
> 
> OH MY GOODNESS I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU WERE WAITING FOR THIS BUT I WAS but what will happen next...
> 
> Thank you for reading ILY! Kudos and comments are much appreciated!!


	9. Himitsu to mahō to hi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Slightly more graphic chapter**  
> Lydia and Malia are very anxious to find out out what happened with the two boys...

_“Hey are you okay?”  
“Sure. Yeah.”  
“You don’t seem okay dude.”  
“I just haven’t been sleeping very good.”  
“Again.”  
“Yeah, again.”  
“Do you know why?”  
“It started with that goddamn dream.”   
“What dream?”  
“The one I’ve been having for a while. The one where I am back to that night. The night everything changed. I’m back there and it just happens all over again. I’m trapped and there is nothing I can do to get out. I try everything but I’m just helpless! His voice, his fury, I feel it all. I’m at his mercy again. And he gives me none.”_

\--

Stiles woke with a headache. He groaned and did not sit up.

Why did he have a headache? Was he sick?

He thought back to the previous night. Oh crap that's right it had been a full moon. And he had been at Lydia’s. Things started to get fuzzy after that.

How had he ended up back here? Someone must have driven him. Who though? It felt kind of important to remember.

What a minute. He was pretty sure Scott drove him. Stiles winced.

Oh no I hope I didn’t say anything, or do anything or…

oH SHIT.

Stiles flew upright before groaning and falling back down.

Images flashed in his mind. Of Scott’s eyes, his hands in Scott’s hair, his lips on Scott.  
Had he actually kissed Scott? Had his intoxicated crossed the line his sober self wasn’t willing to? Had Scott kissed him back?

He sat up much slower this time and slowly walked to his bathroom. Stiles splashed water on his face. 

It seemed very unlikely that he would have kissed Scott. He would have had to be more than a little buzzed to do that, and he only remembered having a few Mike’s Hards, and those weren’t very alcoholic. 

But those images seemed so real.  
_Why don’t you just ask Scott?_ A voice in his mind advised him.

Oh. Hell. No.

There was no way he was going to walk up to Scott McCall and ask him if they kissed or if it was just an alcohol induced dream. 

He touched his lips, they weren’t very tender or sore, unlike when he and Malia had gotten at it. 

No. His mind finally deducted. You did not kiss Scott. It was just your over active imagination creating best case scenarios. 

Stiles sighed and dropped his head. It was like the dreams he had experienced after they sacrificed themselves to the nemeton. They were so vivid that he had been convinced they were real. 

He turned the shower on hot and let the water wash away the night before.

Scott grappled with his own memories. He would not have kissed Stiles. He had been in control last night. 

He would have had to have lost quite a bit of control to kiss Stiles. Then why did he so vividly remember his lips on his lips, his face, his neck?

He growled and shook his head. It was probably just the stupid full moon messing with his brain. He probably just drove Stiles home, gave him water, made sure he got in bed, and left. 

He glanced at his clock. It was 7:03. He should probably get ready for school. He was very surprised that he had fallen asleep. That only really happened after an exhausting full moon. 

He sat up and began to make his way around his room. His hamper was empty and he could hear his mom moving around down stairs.

When he came downstairs she gave him a questioning look.

“Was everything good last night?”

He nodded.

“How about you?”

“Just the usual crazies that wander in on a full moon.” She pulled him into a hug before handing him a bowl of cereal. “Now eat and get your butt to school.”

Lydia and Malia could not get to school fast enough. They both were dying to hear about what had become of the two friends. Liam, Hayden, Mason, and Corey had headed back to their own houses after the moon set, to try to catch a little bit of sleep.

Malia and Lydia, (mostly Lydia) cleaned up the house before taking a shower and heading off to school.

Malia was keeping a lookout for either one of the boys. She finally spotted Scott. She elbowed Lydia and nodded in his direction. He looked tired and distracted. Lydia smiled evilly before frowning when she saw that he was alone. 

They waited for him to come up and greet them.

“Everything was good at the lake house?”  
“Yep.” Lydia nodded.  
“How about you and Stiles?” Malia asked.  
“Oh um, I got him home, and um, in bed.”

Lydia and Malia shared a mischievous look.

“And?”

He stared at them blankly.

“Um, I got him water, and then I…” He trailed off as he spotted Stiles coming down the hallway. “Left.”

Stiles looked a little worse for wear. Lydia was surprised that he didn’t have sunglasses on right now to hide his eyes. They weren’t that bloodshot though. He was keeping his gaze on the floor or on Lydia or Malia. He did not look at Scott. Well actually, Malia watched as he nodded to him before removing his gaze. He listened to both of their heart rates rise considerably. 

“So, nothing happened?” She asked.  
“What do you mean?” Stiles questioned.  
“After Scott took you home. Nothing happened?”

Both of the boys found a floor tile or a wall to look at. Neither seemed to realize that the other was avoiding the other’s eye contact.

Now Lydia and Malia shared a confused look.

“No?” Stiles finally said.

The bell saved the boys and they hurried off to class in different directions.

“Are you kidding me.” Malia growled.  
“Ok something had to have happened.” Lydia pointed out.  
“I know, both of their heart rates started going a mile a minute.”  
“It's almost like they both remember-”  
“-but they don’t know if the other one does or if it actually happened.” Malia finished.  
“That’s oddly specific but yeah.”

Both stared after the boys.

“Ohmygod.” Lydia sighed and began to walk to class.  
“We have to keep trying though.” She called back to Malia.  
-  
The rest of the day, The boys seemed to avoid each other and Malia and Lydia. Well Stiles had the best excuse because he was hung over. But Scott also seemed to be hung over in a way as well.

 _Maybe it's because his control slipped?_ Lydia thought.

Liam, Hayden, Mason, and Corey just watched in tired amusement as they girls badgered the boys for something that hadn’t seemed to happen.

“What are they asking about?” Hayden asked.

Corey and Liam shook their heads.

“They are asking about what happened last night after they left.” Mason explained.

Liam and Corey both scrunched up their faces in confusion.

“What?”  
“Did something happen?”  
“I don’t know, that’s what Malia and Lydia are trying to find out.”  
“Why do they think something happened?”

Mason shook his head.

“Lord if I know.”

-  
Noah Stilinski greeted the girls. They still had bruises and scratches on their faces and arms. Kenzie’s friend, Jesse, had her arm in a cast. There was no doubt that they had been in a fight.

“Thank you girls for coming in. It's brave what you're doing, but it is going to help us catch who did this.”

The girls nodded and followed him. Deputy Tom was followed behind them. 

In the Line Up, there were 3 men. Two were known criminals and one was Greg’s son Lucas.  
Lucas was probably around Stiles’ age. He had brown hair, a paler complexion, and black eyes. He had a similar build to his son’s as well.

“Now do any of these men look familiar?”

The girls stepped up to the glass. After a few moments they looked at each other.

“T-the boy on the far left looks the most familiar.” Kenzie said.

Tom humfed and Greg’s face hardened.

“But I don’t think he was our attacker.” Jesse said. “Our attacker was strong. Really strong. A-and really fast. H-he just seemed to come out of nowhere.”  
“And that kid doesn’t look that strong.” Kenzie also pointed out.

Stilinski sighed. 

“Ok, Greg. Does Lucas have any fighting experience? Any boxing or wrestling classes?” He asked.  
“No. Lucas is on the track and field team. He was in karate when he was young but he hasn’t had a class in at least 9 years.”

This was beginning to look like a possible special case.

-  
The Nogitsune looked over its plans again. 

It had taken it a while to gather the information. The Japanese Mafia was harder to track, especially this far away from any real large cities. 

But, after listening and piecing together for multiple weeks, it had found them. Once it had found a lead on them, it was relatively easy from there. They would speak about their plans out in public because not many people around here spoke Japanese. Let alone the rapid and fluent way the men spoke. However, they did not suspect a teenage white boy that had a dumb look on his face to be listening in and following along easily. 

“Baka.” It mumbled with a smile.

They were up in the mountains, a guarded house that the boss would use as a retreat. 

The main boss was going to be there this week. He was flying in this Thursday at 2:30. He’d arrive at the house at 4:45. 

It rolled its neck. There were several cracks as it stretched the muscles. The fox had forgotten what it was like to have a host. Strange things about their bodies. It greatly disliked them. That was also coupled with the fact that it wasn’t at full strength. Once it gained more strength, those human discomforts would melt away. 

Now it just had to wait.  
-

Theo stared at the wall in front of him. 

There wasn’t much else to stare at. He was always drowsy from the amount of supernatural drugs they pumped into his system. Theo was in a rubber padded cell. The walls were smooth and blank. 

The food sucked as well. 

At least Valak was dead so nobody was using him as a science experiment. Actually, that might have been better than just sitting here and rotting. 

At least he was protected here. More or less. If what the Dread Doctors had told him was true, he wanted to be as far away from Beacon Hills as he could get. The Nogitsune was not something you took lightly. Especially one that was pissed off. But its host had looked completely normal. Of course, fox spirits were tricksters, he could have easily just been faking. 

All he knew is that when he had left Beacon Hills after the Beast, the fox had yet to reawaken.  
He had waited to see what would become of the town. Nothing had. Peter Hale returning had been the biggest event. 

He had seen it as an opportunity. Unfortunately, the older wolf had turned him down. He had given up on his original path to kill Scott. All things considered, Theo didn’t particularly blame him. Killing Scott had proven to be a lot more difficult than it had when he was planning. It had taken a whole week's worth of Wolfsbane poisoning to slow him down and a Supermoon rage driven beta to actually get about to almost killing him. Even then, the alpha had made a comeback. 

Of course his original plan to return for Hayden had been to avoid all confrontation with most of the McCall Pack. He’d been hoping to get her alone, but the pack had caught on to him faster than he liked. He figured that fighting Liam would be easier than waiting.

How Scott had managed to pinpoint their location so fast was still a mystery. Even so, he had taken down the Alpha easy enough. He’d also banked his decisions after Scott showed up on the fact that Scott was a pacifist. 

He had been very wrong.

He’d never felt that close to death before. Even he, a chimera, a fake supernatural creature, had felt the power crashing down on him. He’d found himself unable to move as the alphas eyes had held him in place while he decided on his fate. 

His pack mates hadn’t even been able to pull him back.

His wounds had taken a long time to heal. Both because of the alphas claws and the drugs.

All Theo had wanted was to get Hayden out. He had felt a strange connection to her ever since he had brought her back. He thought that it had to do with the werecreature mash up that the Dread Doctors had created. 

He knew that Hayden would have come around and forgave him eventually, once she saw the hell storm that would become of beacon hills. 

Didn’t she see that he was trying to help her?

He let his head rest against the cold wall behind him.

What’s done is done. If the fox wakes up anytime soon, she’ll hopefully have enough sense to get out. 

The nurse came to his door with his food. The nurse slid it under his door and moved on. Theo sluggishly stood after a few moments and grabbed the tray. 

There was the usual food that they gave them, but in addition there was an envelope on the tray.

That was new.

He returned to his usual sitting place and opened the letter.  
It was a short message.

_Theo Raeken,  
I hope this message finds you safely. Eichen is a strange place. It holds many secrets. One of which you know. Think of when you tried to take on a HellHound.  
I hear that the stars are beautiful over there, best times for viewing are from 11 to 12._

What the hell?

It didn’t say who it was from. 

His drugged brain was trying to work out what the letter had said. 

The last part was obvious. The first part, not so much. A lot had happened the night that they had come here to get Lydia.

He sighed and began to absently eat his food. 

It took him well into the next day to narrow down what the message meant. Now that he had an idea, all he needed was to wait.  
-  
Scott entered the police station. 

The sheriff walked out to meet him. He had dark eye bags and didn’t look like he had slept in a while.

“Hey Scott thank you for coming.” Stilinski led him to his office.  
“Ok so one of my deputy's daughter and her friend were attacked a few nights ago by someone. They claimed that it was another deputy’s son, Lucas. We brought them in and they said that the person who attacked them looked like Lucas but he was way stronger.”

Scott nodded along as they entered his office.

“I’m going to question him a little and I just want you to listen and see if he’s telling the truth.”  
“Ok.”  
“Once he comes in can you sit at the bench outside and listen? Is that close enough.”  
“Yeah that’ll work fine.”  
“Thanks Scott.”

A few moments later Lucas was brought into the office. Scott brushed by him as he left. He was probably a year younger than him. The boy actually looked a little like Stiles. Except Stiles was a little taller. His eyes were a little lighter in color. His hair was a little shorter. He smelled better and-  
Scott shook his head and continued out the door.

He didn’t sense any supernatural presence. He sat down on the bench outside his office and pulled out his phone. 

The sheriff started off with the usual questions.

“Where were you on Sunday night?”  
“What were you doing?”  
Etc.

The boy had a very nervous heartbeat the whole time. But it wasn’t because he was lying, it was because he was getting questioned by the police. Even from out here Scott could smell the fear wafting off of him. After about 10 minutes. The sheriff, the deputy, and Lucas exited the office. Stilinski made sure the boy safely returned to the back before waving Scott in.

“Did you get anything?”

“He was really nervous but he was telling the truth the whole time.”

The sheriff nodded and sat down. 

He noticed that Scott’s leg was bouncing a mile a minute. He had an almost distant and confused look on his face.

“It’s just strange. The girls said that it looked like him but he was way stronger than Lucas looked. So I thought werewolf or something else.” He said, drawing the teens attention back to him. 

“Yeah, I didn’t get any indication that he was super natural.” Scott explained.

The sheriff nodded again. He was staring at the wall, lost in thought.

“Hey, um, I wanted to thank you. For coming and helping with… Theo.” Scott told him.  
Stilinski looked up in surprise.  
“It was nothing really. I’ve been keeping an eye out for him since he left. You guys made my job easier.”

Scott nodded and chewed his lip.

“Scott… I wanted to, apologize, for that night. For shooting at you.”

Now it was Scott’s turn to look surprised.

“Why-?” He was asking before he remembered who he was talking to. 

He didn’t have any grudges against many of the people that shot at him. He had become allies with a lot of them. Argent was the best show of that. If Argent shot at him now, he would hardly be fazed probably.

But this was Noah Stilinski. Stiles’ father, the person who had partially raised him. Stilinski only used his gun when it was necessary, and even then it was to incapacitate. 

“I just, it didn’t feel right shooting at you. I mean, I’ve known you practically your whole life! I just, I wanted to apologize.”

Scott surprised them both by pulling the older man into a hug. 

Stilinski was a little surprised, but he soon wrapped his arms around the teen. 

He was a little surprised by the strength of the hug, but then he remembered who he was hugging. From what Stiles has told him, Scott still hadn’t gotten a full understanding of his strength or how to control it.

Even so, he was grateful for the hug. 

Scott wasn’t entirely sure why he hugged Stilinski. It was probably a culmination of many things. Stilinski has been much like a second father to him when his own had fallen through. He felt terrible that the sheriff had felt badly about shooting at him, which was a situation he could have avoided all together if he’d kept control of his anger.

They stepped out of the hug and nodded.

“Thank you again Scott.”  
“Anything I can do to help.” He replied.

He walked Scott out of the office. A question was nagging at him. 

“Hey, um, have you noticed anything off about Stiles recently?”

Scott jumped and turned wide eyes to the sheriff.

“Weird? Like what kind of weird? I-I haven’t noticed anything I-I mean I don’t think I did. I mean I’m not like watching him all the time or anything.” Scott said in a rushed and panicked pace. 

Stilinski stared at Scott with a perplexed look on his face. 

“Um… ok. It’s just I wanted to see if it was my own paranoia or if it was something else.”

“Yeah, no. I haven’t really noticed anything.” Scott said, trying to keep a calm and normal tone.

The sheriff nodded slowly and Scott slid on his helmet to hide the blush that was forming on his face.

He revved up his bike and pulled out of the Police Parking Lot.

It was only when he was back at his house and back up in his room that he remembered the incident at school. Where he had ben certain he had seen the fox flash in his best friends eyes  
-  
It sat in silence. 

The trees overhead were obscuring much of the moon, leaving it to sit in relative darkness. It always likes to do its work at night. There was a certain calm that the darkness held. Humans suspected that bad things happen after nightfall, but they rarely do much about it. It's what made its work so much more enjoyable. The disruption of a peaceful evening.

It waited until noises in the safe house had died down and many of the lights had switched off. There were still quite a few humans awake and alert, but it didn’t care too much about them. 

It stood up silently and walked back around the walls of the house. The smell of chemicals was strong where he walked. Another helpful invention made by humans. 

There was a pool of light under a window, and it stood just out of the circle of light. The fox sensed someone was coming from its left side. 

It could sense when they sucked in a breath when they spotted it. The fox turned to look the human straight in the eyes. 

It flicked the lighter on and let it drop by its feet. 

Back in Beacon Hills. Lydia was studying for her AP Biology Test. She had been having a strange hot flash that whole day. She also had felt like something kept stinging her or biting her, but there were no marks. It also had sounded like someone was saying ‘maho to he’ in her ear. 

Now her room began to fill with the thick scent of smoke along with something else that was acrid. 

She coughed and looked around. Her room was suddenly a storm of burning embers and black smoke.

She choked and scrambled towards her door. The handle was burning hot to the touch. She cried out and jerked her hand away. She slid down her wall as bits of her ceiling began to fall.

A dark shadow materialized infront of her. The shadow took the form of a person. A person whose skin was burning and blistering. A person who was reaching out to her and screaming. 

Lydia shrieked and tried to scramble away. The smell of burning flesh and hair was invading her lungs.

More figures materialized. All burning. All screaming. 

“Lydia!”

Her door was thrown open and her mom silhouetted in the doorway.

“Oh my god Lydia are you alright?” Her mom knelt down beside her.

She gasped and looked around her room. There was no fire. There was no smoke. There was no smell.

“Lydia, Lydia please look at me and tell me what’s going on?” Her mom asked panicked.

Lydia sucked in multiple deep breaths.

“I-I don’t really know. I-I think I’m alright now.”

Her mom helped her stand up and led her down to the kitchen. She put some water on the stove to make tea as Lydia struggled to get her hands to stop shaking. 

Ms. Martin set down a cup of tea in front of her daughter. She had done everything she could to keep Lydia away from the dangerous supernatural side of Beacon Hills. Whole lot of good that had done. First her mom, now her daughter. She sighed in sadness and resignation.

“What did you see?”

Fire roared to life and sprange forward. The man stumbled backwards as the fire raced towards him on the ground. Fire also snaked around the house off to the right and also up onto the house in front of him. The Nogitsune took a deep breath in as the fire caught the human and he began to scream.

A siren went off within the house, but it was too late by then. The fire was spreading rapidly. The grass around the house was also catching. The fox slowly made its way around to the front of the house. Humans were stumbling out of the entrance through the smoke. 

Humans were trying to quench the flames with hoses around the front yard, but the fire wasn’t just man made fire, it had a bit of its own power laced in with the chemicals it had set. A wonderful combination of Supernatural and Science, a tip it’d picked up from the Dread Doctors.

The air wreaked of fear and confusion. The fox drank it all in. 

Screams rang out from within the house and sparks and flames flew into the air as bits of the roof started to collapse. 

The fox picked up on a particularly acrid scent, one only it could smell. The burning of letharia vulpina. 

The fox had a mask on, something to keep the smoke out of its hosts lungs. But also to leave it unaffected by the plant's properties. 

Very few people were making their way out of the house, many were still trapped inside. The smell of burning flesh was polluting the air around the group gathered. Many were choking on the smoke that was pouring out of the house.

The fox heard the structure groan.

It turned away from the inferno and began to make its way back down the road.

If some people had been watching the boy walk away, they might have said that they saw a strange shadow outline of dark rounded ears and nine dark tails swishing behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty much the same as the one on the original story so I'm sorry if you wanted to see more differences.  
> I am enjoying adding little Sciles bits in there though. I also am enjoying writing Scott as a person that doesn't want his crushes dad to find out that he has a crush on his son...
> 
> Well if you didn't have a seizure trying to read that last line, thank you for reading! Kudos and feedback are always appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> HI SO I DID IT. I HAVE MADE A SCILES VERSION. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this but now that I am... I am having way to much fun :l  
> oof I don't know how to write romance so these painfully awkward situations just got even more awkward.  
> Also, nobody should have taught me strikethrough formatting...  
> Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave kudos, comments or feedback!


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